Stockholm
by KhaosRanes
Summary: B/V - NAMEK/FRIEZA SAGA AU - SLOW BURN *cover art by lem0uro* - When Bulma is abducted by Frieza's lackeys on Namek, she hardly expects Vegeta to be the one to rescue her. But has Vegeta saved her out of the kindness of his heart? Or does he have something more sinister in mind?
1. Prologue

_Preface:_ So, I got this idea while rewatching the Frieza saga and am rolling with it. This story picks up right after Bulma is kidnapped by Frieza's soldiers on Namek, around episode #59. So for all you Alternate Universe fans, this one's for you.

I'm not a huge fan of stories that head hop, so I'll be alternating POVs by chapter. The only POVs will be Vegeta and Bulma.

This is my first fic, and I'm excited about this idea, so I hope you like it. Feel free to drop a review. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ.

PROLOGUE

Vegeta had ensconced himself between the two plateaus, guarding the six dragon balls for several hours now. He had worked tirelessly to make it to this point. All it had taken was a good dose of intimidation, a host of dead bodies, and a near death experience – nothing too out of the ordinary for him. He only needed one more ball in order to finally make his wish, and he was not going to let anything stand in his way.

Arms crossed and eyes closed, he sat on one of the magical orbs, focusing every ounce of concentration he had on locating the Earthlings that had stolen the seventh ball from him. He banished all other thoughts from his mind; he had to keep it unclouded if he hoped to sense their ki.

 _There._

Vegeta's brows furrowed as he finally honed in on the faint group of energies. It sent a ripple through his senses like a leaf falling on to a pool of still water. There were two distinct kis, and, if he focused enough, a third one. While the first two seemed too weak to be the Earth fighters, he supposed it was only because they were suppressing their energy in hopes of misleading him.

The third, however, was distinct, and was what made him certain it was them. It was incredibly weak, barely a flicker. _It must be that bratty girl._

Vegeta wondered why the Earthlings would have ever thought it a good idea to bring such a weakling female with them to Namek. From what he had deduced during his battle with Zarbon, she had zero fighting ability, and, as evidence of her power level, was clearly a brittle being. Why would they bring such dead weight with them?

It didn't matter, of course. They would be dead soon. All of them – the humans, Frieza and his men. He would be the only one leaving this planet alive.

Vegeta rose to his feet and glanced back to his dragon balls one last time before blasting into the air toward the collection of energies. _At last,_ he thought to himself as the wind roared past him, _I will have all seven dragon balls and become immortal. As soon as I pry it from the Earthlings' dead fingers._


	2. Chapter I

I

She just couldn't shake these creeps, could she?

"See, I told you she was lying!" The humanoid soldier scolded his bipedal, crocodile comrade.

Just a few minutes earlier, Bulma had emerged from the murky depths of the namekian lake, at which point she thought she had finally lost Frieza's two henchmen to the giant crab that had ambushed them underwater. But, like dog shit on her boot, she just could not get rid of these guys.

The reptilian soldier walked forward, sopping wet and quaking with anger. "You BITCH! You tried to kill us!"

"Hey now!" Bulma recoiled, hands flailing. "I didn't know a giant crab was going to come out of nowhere! I just fled instinctively – you can't blame me for that! The dragon balls are down there, I swear! You guys want your wish, right?"

"Enough! Enough of your lies. You are coming with us to Lord Frieza. He is going to have fun with you, Girl."

"Oh yeah?" she countered. "Well, wait til I tell him you two were willing to betray him and use the dragon balls for yourselves! If I'm going down, you two are going down with me."

She thought she had them with that, as both men appeared visibly shaken by her threat. But it was clear her strategy had backfired when the alligator's jaws contorted into what Bulma could only interpret as a wicked grin. "Well," he said, "we'll just have to kill you then and take that dragon ball. Pretend none of this ever happened."

Bulma paled. _Shit._

Slowly, they walked forward. She backed away, but soon found herself up against the rock wall of the plateau behind her. Her mind was racing. _This can't be the end. It just can't be! Isn't anyone going to rescue me?_

She clenched her eyes shut as the men closed in on her, and waited, expecting to feel the hands on her to drag her away. Instead, she heard a slight _swoosh,_ and what sounded like feet connecting softly with the ground in front of her.

 _Krillin?_ she speculated, eyes still shut. Relief flooded her chest. She just knew it; she knew someone would save her. Someone always did.

Hesitantly, she cracked an eye open. But when she did, her relief was replaced with heart-stopping dread.

It wasn't Krillin. It was... "V-v-v-v..."

 _Vegeta._

He was just a few feet away, facing down Frieza's underlings. His very aura exuded such authority, such an otherworldly intensity, that becoming aware of his presence was akin to being punched in the gut. Bulma's whole body seized. Her breath caught in her throat, her stomach dropped, her blood ran cold. There was just something about him that induced a visceral reaction. He was no ordinary villain, after all. Sure, one might say he appeared human enough. But beneath the surface, peering through the seams, was something pathological and monstrous. Something infernal, morally void, utterly _inhuman_.

This is not what she had meant by 'rescue.' Vegeta's arrival was arguably worse for her than if she had been taken to Frieza. Sure, she had never seen this Frieza guy everyone was talking about, and he sounded frightening and all, but Vegeta was a devil she knew all too well, a beast she could assign a face to. She had seen his atrocities. She knew what he was capable of.

Seeing him once that day had been more than enough, and she had been lucky to survive their earlier encounter. She only hoped she would be as lucky this time.

"Who are you?" Vegeta asked the men. His voice was incredibly gruff and held a menacing impatience.

The soldiers seemed to recognize the Prince immediately. Dread instantly spattered their faces, and the two burly men suddenly reminded Bulma of frightened puppies. If the circumstances hadn't been so dire, she would have found it hilarious. "V-vegeta," stammered the reptile as he made a poor attempt to bolster himself. "We... serve Lord Frieza. We know you have the dragon balls. You must relinquish them and return with us to the ship at once."

Vegeta hadn't even waited for the crocodile to finish his sentence before he rose his hand, a ball of yellow light igniting in his palm. "Sorry," he replied with a chilling smirk, "I stopped listening after 'Lord Frieza'."

The light burst from his hand like a rocket, slicing through the air and engulfing the soldier in a brilliant display of light so bright Bulma had to shield her eyes. She heard a bloodcurdling scream – which could very well have been her own - but when she opened her eyes all that remained was smoldering pile of ash. The nauseating pit in her stomach sank deeper, hitting her very core.

The other fighter clearly mirrored her sentiments. He stood frozen, eyes wide as saucers as he stared down at the pile of what used to be his partner. Vegeta shifted slightly so that his hand was now directed at the remaining soldier. The man looked up. "Wait, Vegeta! H-have mercy! Please!"

But Bulma knew from his time on Earth, that mercy was not really a word the Saiyan was familiar with. She watched in horror as the soldier's plea was answered with the same ki blast. When he, too, was rendered into dust, Vegeta let out a sinister chuckle. "Weaklings," he sneered, turning to face Bulma. "Speaking of weaklings..."

When the Prince's eyes locked with hers, she just about melted inside – and not in a good way. His eyes were ominously dark, deep-set in his stern, square face and shadowed by a heavy brow. The gaze itself was empty, yet strangely arresting, like death itself.

She sank down to the ground as a wave of defeat crashed over her. His stare was imposing enough that she felt compelled to speak, though she did not know what to say. Her brain was short circuiting, trying desperately to make sense of what just happened, trying to make sense of what was _going to_ happen now.

Absently, she stuttered, "Y-you saved me..."

"Don't be ridiculous," the Saiyan scoffed. "I came for the dragon ball, obviously - not to _save_ you. Good thing I got here, too, or else the dragon ball would probably be in Frieza's hands by now. Would have caused me a lot of trouble. But now..." He smirked, brushing past Bulma to retrieve the magical orb. "It's almost too easy. Like taking candy from a baby."

Something about seeing that ball in his hands, with that smug look on his face, snapped Bulma out of her stupor. A ferocious courage overtook her, and she leaped up and charged the Saiyan without thinking. Silly? Maybe. All she knew was that she couldn't let Vegeta make his wish. It would literally be the death of them.

She pounded on his back over and over with all her strength, yelling, "You can't take it – you can't! I won't let you take it!"

Unfazed by her assault, Vegeta nudged her off him with ease. She could tell the push was slight, but his strength was so that it was enough to send her reeling. She grunted as her butt collided hard with the ground.

He turned and looked down at her with an expression of genuine amusement. "You ' _won't let me_ '?" His head flung back in an eruption of laughter. "Oh, that is too good! And here I was wondering why chrome dome and that brat brought you along. Clearly for comic relief." The palm of his hand was suddenly pointed right at her, radiating that familiar yellow light. "I would call you brave for attacking me - but seeing as you are the weakest life-form on this planet, I think _stupid_ is the better word."

If she were a normal person, she would have responded like that soldier had – fearful and begging for her life. But, Bulma was not your average person. Her mouth notoriously had a mind of its own, and, for better or for worse, it oftentimes possessed her when she was angry. And boy was she angry. No one insulted her intelligence.

She rose to her feet, hands on her hips, and advanced on the Saiyan, stopping only once she was close enough to poke him in the chest. "Now you wait just a minute!" she commanded - and, surprisingly, Vegeta did. "I'll have you know - I am probably the smartest person on this planet! You know the dragon ball radar that _found_ all those precious dragon balls? - _I invented it! I created it!_ So don't you dare call me _stupid_."

Vegeta looked dumbfounded. Bulma backed away and crossed her arms.

"Plus, you can't kill me! Do you even know what to do now that you have all the dragon balls? The dragon doesn't just appear, you know. There's a special thing you have to do!"

The Prince blinked at her. " . . . A special thing?"

"Yeah! Like a ritual. A password. The balls are useless without it." It could very well have been a lie, but Bulma was thinking fast, saying anything that would bide her a bit more time - alive. "Krillin and Gohan are off chatting with the green people right now, probably finding out what it is! You think they'll tell you if you murder their best friend? Fat chance, buster!"

"What!" Vegeta growled through gritted teeth. "A password?!" His flash of anger brought out the fright in her once more. But then, unexpectedly, his building rage seemed to melt away, and that devilish smile returned to his face. "Well, in that case," he began - and before Bulma could register what was happening, he had her hoisted over his shoulder, dragon ball tucked under his free arm, "you will serve nicely as leverage."

"Hey, what are you doing! LET ME DOWN!" Bulma writhed frantically. "What do you mean _leverage_?"

"I'll trade your friends: this dragon ball password for their whiny companion."

 _What?_ Bulma's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. Was she hearing him right? Vegeta was _kidnapping_ her?

"And if they don't give me what I want, I'll just have to kill you."

"... _W-WHA-"_

But the wind swallowed up any further protest, as Vegeta propelled them up into the air with such force that it felt as though her insides would shoot out of her body.

 _So much for being lucky._


	3. Chapter II

A/N: I just want to say a big BIG thanks to all of you readers out there, and a VERY special thanks to my _reviewers_ and those following the story! Your reviews mean a lot and definitely help motivate me!

I am ashamed to have forgotten to source my story cover art in the last chapter. The awesome artwork is done by lem0uro. You can and should follow her at .com ! Her stuff is amazing 3

Anyway, onwards! Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ. :'(

CHAPTER II

It only took a few minutes to return to the other dragon balls, yet those few minutes felt like an eternity with the Earth girl.

She screamed pretty much the entire way, flailing her limbs and clawing at him mid-air. _"Idiot_ , do you want me to drop you?" he had shouted to her as she squirmed. Her efforts were useless, obviously. But it was annoying as hell. He even increased his speed substantially at one point in hopes that the wind would drown out her shrieking, but to no avail. For how weak she was, she had a powerful set of lungs.

He dumped her carelessly to the ground when he touched down. Immediately, she scrambled away from him on all fours like a frightened animal. She spun around and stared up at him, her strange blue hair wild and frazzled from their flight.

"W-what are you going to do to me?" she asked, voice rattled with fear, her tiny body shivering as she cowered against the wall.

Vegeta smiled at the sight. He had always taken a sort of barbaric delight in seeing others tremble before him. He was a Saiyan, after all. A predator by blood. Weak or strong, it made no difference to him. Prey was prey. And right now, she was like a cornered little mouse.

"What's wrong?" he laughed, approaching her slowly. "Do I frighten you?"

She shrank away. "S-stay back! I...I have a disease, you know, s-so you shouldn't come any closer if you don't want to c-catch it."

"Do you take me for a fool?" Smirking, he squatted down on his haunches so as to look her in the eyes, reveling in the terror that stared back at him. "Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything to you - for now. That's assuming, of course, you're telling the truth about this 'password.'"

"I'm n-not lying. Honest..."

"Good. Because if you are – well..." He raised a gloved hand to her cheek and caressed it gently with his thumb, his smile widening when she flinched. "...that'd be a shame for that pretty face of yours." She blanched at his thinly veiled threat. "Let's find out, shall we?"

He rose and walked away to place the dragon ball under his arm with the remaining six. Upon setting it down, the orbs began to glow in tandem, as though grateful to be reunited. He stared down at them in awe, the soft pulsating light irradiating his chiseled face.

If the girl was lying, which he obviously hoped she was, then this was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for. The moment that represented the beginning of his revenge, his freedom, his destiny. His heart thumped hard in his chest at the thought.

Fists clenched at his sides, he spoke thunderously to whatever higher power may have been listening, the steadiness of his voice belying the wild excitement he felt inside.

"Dragon, I order you to grant me immortality, so that I may never die!"

He'd admit, the words sounded a little ridiculous as he said them. Especially when nothing happened.

He could feel the girl's anxious eyes on him as he waited. The minutes lulled by, but there was only silence. Silence and the soft glow of the dragon balls.

He looked down at his hands – clenched them, opened them. He locked on to the energy that streamed through him, listening to it, feeling it, waiting for the first sign of something new or unusual. But he didn't feel any different.

"Girl!" he barked. "Did it work? Is everything supposed to seem so... so normal?"

She trembled, wordless.

" _Girl!_ "

"I-I don't think so," she stammered out. "On Earth, the sky gets really d-dark while summoning the dragon."

 _The sky gets dark?_ Vegeta's eyes automatically trailed upward, but his gaze was met with nothing but bright green sky. Neck craned, he held his breath and waited, concentrating as though trying to will the sky to darken.

Still nothing.

Finally, he relented with a growl. "So, you were telling the truth after all," he grumbled. The Earthling sighed heavily, clearly relieved by his words. He forced a small smile. "No matter, we wait then."

"Wait?"

"For your pathetic friends to arrive."

He heard her squeak. "What! But... w-who knows when they'll be back! It could be days! I'm supposed to sit here for days – with _you_?"

"That's the idea," he replied flatly.

For a long moment, his gaze remained transfixed on the dragon balls. It was disheartening he couldn't make his wish yet, but Vegeta wouldn't let that put a damper on his accomplishment. He finally had all seven balls in his possession. A feat that just a year earlier had felt like a distant possibility at best. Now, victory was so close he could almost taste it. He had waited this long... What was a couple more days?

As soon as the other Earthlings returned, he would get the information he needed from them, then kill them. Letting them live was not a mistake he would make again. They had proven themselves to be nothing but pests. And pests needed to be exterminated.

He was about to sit down when he heard the human approach him from behind and say, "Well, maybe there's something I can do to... change your mind?"

Vegeta's ears couldn't help but twitch at the abrupt shift in her tone. Curious, he turned to face her, surprised when he saw her just a few feet away, and drawing closer. She was practically gliding to him. All fear seemingly and inexplicably gone. When she was but a foot away from him, she stopped. She raised her hand to him and let her fingers trail lightly down his arm.

Vegeta went stiff, completely unprepared for this contact. _What... what is she_ doing _?_ He was unaccustomed to such tender touching. It was so delicate he could feel his skin prickling under his armor.

She bowed her head and peered up at him through rows of thick blue lashes. "A big muscular guy like you – there must be _some_ way to convince you to let me go?"

The innuendo prompted a cymbal to sound in his head. She... she thought she could _seduce_ him? _Him_?

He regained himself hastily and swatted her hand away. "Tch – _idiot_ ," he spat, shutting her down immediately. Her expression sank. "You really think you can manipulate me? Sit the fuck down." Annoyed, he turned to take a seat, pausing and looking back when she did not obey. She merely gaped at him, as though shell-shocked he had actually shunned her advance. "I said _sit down_!" he commanded again. The volume of his voice startled her that time, and she scurried away to take a seat several yards away from him.

He sat down next to his dragon balls. _Lewd wench,_ he thought with a scowl. "Now sit there and shut your mouth." He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, but then popped one eye open and added, "Oh, and don't even think about trying to escape, or I can't promise I'll be returning you to your friends in one piece. Got it?"

She gulped audibly and said nothing more after that. At least, not for the next hour or so. Vegeta was finally getting the rest he needed when he suddenly heard her shuffling about. He opened an eye to find her on her knees, rummaging through her jacket pocket.

"What are you doing?" he snapped.

She whirled on him with a flare of anger. " _Hmph._ I'm getting some magazines to entertain myself. Is that okay with you, your _highness_?"

Vegeta's brow furrowed. She was totally confusing. Was he talking to the same girl that just an hour earlier had been sniveling at his feet? First her mewling, then her weird attempt to seduce him, and now this... this _sass_?

He had taken her earlier fiery outburst as a fluke, but evidently it hadn't been. Her demeanor was obviously erratic, prone to flipping on a dime.

He watched warily as she pulled a device from her pocket. It was a miniature bottle of some sort, no larger than the size of his thumb. He bristled, eyeing it with suspicion. "What is that thing?"

Exasperated, she answered, _"Relax,_ It's just a capsule. It stores things." She let the contraption fall to her feet before Vegeta could protest. It collided with the ground, generating a small cloud of smoke before disappearing and revealing a pile of thin paper books. She plopped herself back down and began leafing through one. _"_ Sheesh, anyone ever tell you to chill out a little?" she huffed. "You are so on edge."

Vegeta ignored her stupid comment. He blinked, amazed and confused by what he had just witnessed. How was it that those books had fit into such a small appliance? And how had the bottle just... disappeared?

His poker face must have faltered in his bemusement, for the girl regarded him smugly.

"Impressed?" she boasted. "This one's my dad's invention. Though, I've played a huge part in the advancements." She puffed her chest out slightly. "Not so _stupid_ anymore, am I?"

It was slowly becoming clear to the Prince why the Earthlings had decided to bring this female with them. Where she lacked in muscle, she clearly made up in her tech-savvy knowledge. She had created the dragon ball locating device, she had helped in the creation of these _capsules._ It was impressive. He wondered if she didn't also have something to do with how the Earthlings got here in the first place.

"How did you Earth pests get to Namek, anyway?"

The human seemed to hesitate. "We used the namekian ship Kami used to come to Earth a long time ago." Suddenly very sad, she added, "A couple soldiers destroyed it right after we landed, though."

"Who is 'Kami'- oh, never mind, I don't care. What could you idiots possibly want with the dragon balls?"

That question stoked her anger again. She shot him a hateful glare. "We're gonna wish back our friends that you and your little green demons murdered, you creep!"

Vegeta thought back to the "friends" she was referring to. He could remember the Namek's death clearly, but couldn't recall the others. They had hardly been memorable. "Tch, those weaklings? What a waste of a wish."

"They're not _weaklings_!" she bellowed. "My Yamcha is brave and valiant!"

He arched an eyebrow. "Your 'Yamcha'? What is a 'Yamcha'?"

She practically snarled at him. It was an amusing sound coming from her. She had spirit, he'd give her that. Strangely enough, he was finding himself entertained.

"He's my _boyfriend_! And your ugly kamikaze-gremlin killed him!"

Vegeta burst out laughing. He remembered now. The scar-faced dope.

" _And what is so funny?_ "

He couldn't speak right away, though. He was basically keeling over where he was sitting from laughing so hard. He waited to catch his breath before answering. _"_ Your _boyfriend_ was the one defeated by our Saibamen? Figures. You _would_ be attracted to a weakling like him."

" _Stop saying that!_ He is _not_ a _weakling!_ He's a warrior!"

" _Was,_ " Vegeta corrected her. "And I hate to break it to you, but if your boyfriend was killed by a _Saibaman,_ then he was hardly a 'warrior.' _Pansy_ is more like it. We did you a favor. You should thank me for disposing of such garbage."

" _UGH,_ you're a total _JERK_!"

She fumed like a Saibaman about to explode. Abruptly, she rose, spun on her heel, and began to stomp away. It took a second for him to realize she meant to leave their hiding place entirely. She only made it a couple steps into the sunlight before the Saiyan Prince vanished and reappeared in front of her, his action causing her to yelp and stagger back.

"And where do you think you're going?"

She steeled again. "Where do you think? Away from you! You can _sense_ me, can't you? What, I need to be within your line of sight at all times?"

"Frieza or his men could fly by at any time. I will not risk us being discovered before I have the chance to make my wish."

He could tell by the human's expression that she was stewing inside. She couldn't physically fight him so she was looking for some other means to injure him somehow. She held his gaze for a long moment, silently challenging him, her big blue eyes shimmering like sapphires in the sunlight.

"Well I hope we do get discovered," she hissed finally. "That way you can't get your wish!"

"You're a fool," Vegeta shot back instantly. "Frieza intends to make the same wish I do. You honestly think we would be better off letting Frieza become immortal?" When the Earthling remained silent, it clicked with him just how completely clueless she really was. He narrowed his eyes and took a step toward her, coaxing her back into the shade of their hideout. "You don't know anything about Frieza, do you? You've been sheltered on that little planet of yours, oblivious to the intergalactic destruction going on around you. Well, let me enlighten you. Frieza is the most feared being in the entire universe. He has annihilated more civilizations than you can imagine, killed more people than you could possibly count. He is the most bloodthirsty and merciless being that's ever lived."

" _Gee_ , sounds familiar."

Vegeta sneered at that. "Believe me, Girl, if you think I'm evil, then you have no idea. I've killed plenty, sure - and I enjoyed it. But I am a saint compared to Frieza." She seemed to waver at that comparison. Vegeta continued bluntly. "If Frieza had gotten his hands on you, he would not have shown you _any mercy_. He would have killed you by now, no doubt about it. But not before torturing you first. You should be happy it was me who ended up capturing you and not Frieza."

She looked down and was quiet for a moment, digesting. Then her thin blue brows furrowed and her eyes snapped back up to him. "You're a saint compared to him, huh?" She folded her arms. "Yeah, right – I doubt that. Just wait til Goku gets here. He'll wipe the floor with both of you. Then you can say so long to your stupid wish."

"What?" Vegeta's eyes widened in surprise at the name. "Kakarot? He's coming here?"

His stomach turned.

While he was fairly confident that his strength far exceeded Kakarot's by now, this knowledge was angering. He had not even come close yet to accepting the outcome of his battle with the third-class scum. The fight and his defeat had plagued him non-stop the entire journey back to Frieza's base, and even as he had recovered in the isolation chamber. It was becoming an obsession. He would replay the battle, frame by frame, endlessly in his head - analyzing, trying desperately to pinpoint where he had gone wrong.

The fact was, the truth was just too humiliating to face. He refused to accept that he, Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans, destroyer of worlds, elite of the elite, had been beaten by a goofy low-ranking Saiyan warrior and his coward friends.

 _No_. Not even a warrior. A self-identified Earthling _pacifist_ who hadn't even had the balls to finish him when he'd lost. It was disgusting. It was enough to make him want to scream at the top of his lungs just thinking about it now. If not for the dragon balls, Vegeta would have returned to Earth in a heartbeat to kill that worthless trash and destroy everything he held dear. Though, he supposed now, he would get the chance to kill to two birds with one stone.

"That third-class clown doesn't scare me. Let him come. It will save me the trip to Earth to settle the score."

If she'd known what was good for her, the human would have stopped there, but she kept going. "Your memory isn't that short-term, right?" she goaded. "He obliterated you. Beat you to pulp. The only reason you're here now is because Goku made the mistake of letting you live, you scumbag."

It was then he realized he had let this banter go on too long and too far. No one spoke to him like that, especially not weakling like her.

He advanced on her so quickly her human eyes could not even register his movements. In a fraction of a second – less even - he was inches away from her, his fingers enclosed firmly around her fragile mandible.

"You're pretty mouthy for someone I could snap like a twig," he told her with a rough tug of her chin. "Maybe I should rip out that tongue of yours so I don't have to listen to your blabbering anymore. Or..." He gradually tightened his grip until her eyes began to water. "...I could just break your jaw."

She whimpered in response, eyes teeming with renewed horror. For effect, he held her a second longer before releasing her with a shove. She stepped back, her small hands immediately finding her face to massage where he had manhandled her.

"Even if Kakarot could defeat me – which he can't – he would not stand a chance against Frieza. The only way to kill him is if I become immortal."

And with that, Vegeta moved away. He had begun walking past her to return to his spot when a sniffle caused him to turn back around. Her gaze was cast downwards as she cradled her face, tear welling in her eyes.

"You're... you're terrible!" she lamented, seemingly to herself more than to him. "What did I do to deserve this?" Vegeta cringed as he witnessed a tear begin its descent down one of her rosy cheeks. Such a display of weakness was anathema to a calloused warrior like him. Just when he was about to tell her to stop blubbering, she looked to him furiously and yelled, " _How can you treat a lady that way_!"

Vegeta blinked, convinced he'd kidnapped a nut-job. Her ability to span an entire spectrum of emotions in the period of a single conversation was truly mind-boggling.

He scoffed at her and turned. "What can I say, I strive to treat everyone equally," he quipped dryly, lounging once again next to the dragon balls. "Now sit back down."

She glowered at him but then acquiesced.

They lapsed into silence once again. A couple hours went by this time. The girl seemed to cool down from their heated exchange and went back to fiddling with her small gadgets.

At some point she sprang to her feet to blurt out that she needed to "go pee," and complained that she had been holding it since before Frieza's soldiers had kidnapped her. "Go then," he had growled. "I fail to see the need for you to make a big announcement about it."

"Well, I'm not gonna go in front of you," she huffed back. "I'm going around the corner. Just giving you a heads up. I'm not trying to escape or anything, so don't go trying to kill me yet, yeah?" When she had disappeared from view, she shouted, "And no peaking!"

"What!" Vegeta flushed, insulted. "Vulgar Girl," he spat. "As if I have any desire to watch you take a piss."

When she was done she traipsed back to her spot and resumed tinkering with her tools. Eventually she moved on to other things, like reading more of her _magazines –_ or whatever she called them -, munching on her snack bars, brushing her hair, etc. Vegeta did his best to ignore her as time went on, but he found that even when she wasn't talking, she was loud. She shuffled her things loudly, sighed loudly, chewed loudly. It was extremely obnoxious. Vegeta was beginning to doubt he would be able to use her as a bargaining chip as planned; he was fighting the urge to blast her to bits just to get some peace and quiet. It had only been four – maybe five hours tops, and this girl was already putting his notoriously short patience to the ultimate test.

He tensed as she let out another exasperated sigh. "Would you be quiet!" His sudden outburst made her jump. A look of honest confusion was plastered her face, as if she didn't know why he would ask that. He growled. "Must you make all those noises?"

"What noises?"

 _Arrrghh._ "Just...be quiet," Vegeta repeated, closing his eyes and willing himself to keep his composure.

She still seemed confused, but put her magazine down and sat incredibly and deliberately still for awhile after. For a bit, it was dead quiet. Nothing but the occasional croak of a frog or the squawk of some distant dinosaur-bird. That is, until she started making a new noise. This time soft and rhythmic. Curious, Vegeta opened his eyes to find the human slumped over and fast asleep on her side, her mouth agape and snoring.

He could not believe she was sleeping. How big a fool was she? The last thing he would _ever_ let himself do was fall asleep in the midst of an enemy. Years of hardship, battle, death and treachery had taught him to be on his guard at all times. What kind of life had this woman lived to be devoid of such an instinct, he wondered? A life of naivete and sheltering and cushioning, no doubt. Here she was, sleeping like a baby, without a care in the world, next to her captor – her _enemy._ She didn't know him at all. How in the world could she leave herself so vulnerable?

With nothing better to do, Vegeta studied the Earthling as she slumbered.

She was an odd creature. She was humanoid, like him, but she was unlike any humanoid female he had seen. Granted, he had not interacted with many females during his lifetime – humanoid females even less so - but the ones he did recall had often been either unsightly, or decent but nothing to write home about.

This woman, on the other hand, was far from unsightly, and far more than just decent.

The longer he examined her the more he began to appreciate her features. They fit together perfectly somehow. From her large doe-like eyes and perfectly groomed brows to her dainty little nose to her full, pink lips. It all harmonized together like a pretty picture framed by her outlandishly blue hair. Her hair was what was perhaps most intriguing. He had seen creatures with blue hair before, but hers was different somehow. It contrasted starkly with her alabaster skin, making it seem extraordinarily vibrant, alien, _exotic_.

Unconsciously, Vegeta's attention moved to the rest of her body. She was fully clothed, but he could tell her figure underneath was shapely. Thin but curvaceous. Slowly, his gaze glided along the pronounced curves of her hips and waist -

And suddenly their earlier interaction replayed in his mind. The look on her face and sensual gleam in her eyes. The feather-light touch of her fingers. The sound of her voice, pouring from her mouth like honey.

" _...There must be_ some _way to convince you to let me go..."_

Stupid Earthling.

His gaze landed on her bosom, watched for minutes as it rose and fell with every snore. He began to wonder what those breasts looked like under...

Something began to roil deep in his belly all of a sudden. Something primal, almost urgent. Recognizing the feeling, Vegeta shook his head vigorously to break himself of it.

 _Focus!_ he ordered himself, tearing his gaze away. He was not here on Namek to fool around! The dragon balls, his wish, killing Frieza, fulfilling his destiny as the most powerful fighter in the universe – these were the things that demanded his full attention. Not some momentary lust. He was well above such primitive urges.

Vegeta closed his eyes once more, using more willpower than he cared to admit to steer his thoughts away from his sleeping cargo.


	4. Chapter III

A/N: Infinite thanks to those of you out there reading the story. I don't know who you are, but I see the views :) Special thanks to _Dulcet Shoujo_ for her wonderful review!

If you guys are reading and are enjoying the story, please consider leaving me a comment. I cannot overstate how wonderful and motivating it is to hear from people liking the story! The words of encouragement get me writing immediately! :D

This is the longest chapter yet. Hope you guys like it. Our brave Bulma will be in for a few surprises.

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.

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CHAPTER III

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Okay, so her emotions were kind of all over the place. It was to be expected, given the circumstances. She'd been through a hell of a lot in the past month. She had trekked all the way across space - almost dying twice along the way - only to have her ship destroyed the minute she arrived. Since then, she had been stranded on this stinking planet, had almost died multiple times _again_ , had barely slept, couldn't remember the last time she'd showered - and now, on top of _all_ that, she had been taken hostage by an alien serial killer. Who wouldn't be an emotional wreck?

She kept wanting it all to be a bad dream. But, when she woke from her unintentional nap, there he was - _Vegeta_ \- sitting just yards away. _Looking_ at her no less. The second she caught his gaze, he swiftly turned his head the other way.

Bulma was a heavy sleeper. You could probably find her in a burning house sleeping like a baby. So, knowing she had left herself that vulnerable, next to _Vegeta_ of all people, was a little mortifying. Blue in the face at the thought, she pulled herself up to a sitting position, wrapping her arms securely around her body. "Creep," she muttered. "He better not have tried anything while I was sleeping."

"What?"

Bulma started. _Guess his hearing is superhuman, too._ She doubled down. "You heard me! I said you better not have tried anything funny while I was sleeping!"

The Prince grimaced at her. "What is it with you and these preposterous suggestions? As if I would have any interest in the likes of you."

"Stop looking at me while I sleep then!"

He snarled. "I was _not_ looking at you!"

"Liar."

Vegeta whipped his head in the other direction with a "tch," and the conversation died there.

Bulma knew she wasn't helping her situation in any way by talking back to Vegeta the way she did. If anything, every time she gave him lip, she was probably quadrupling her chances of getting herself killed.

It wasn't like he didn't scare her. Quite the contrary. Of all the villains she had encountered during the course of her adventurous lifetime, none of them frightened her like Vegeta did. And, sheer power aside - which, alone, was enough reason to fear him - she found there was something about _him_ that scared her.

It wasn't his appearance that was scary. Vegeta was not a grisly, hideous beast with fangs or horns or claws. You would actually never even guess that he wasn't human by looking at him. Even by human standards, he wasn't a particularly intimidating looking guy. He was not some large and menacing musclehead. He was quite small - much smaller than Goku and only an inch or two taller her - well built, but lean. While his constant scowl made him less than approachable, his face itself was quite average - certainly not unsightly. Really, the only outward clue to give away his extraterrestrial heritage was the garb he wore, and maybe his outlandishly shaped hair, which spiked up into a rigid flame of black.

The man just didn't fit any notion of someone who committed genocide and enjoyed blowing innocent people to pieces. And that's precisely what was so unnerving. He was a monster in the shape of a human being. A predator in disguise.

And like a good predator, he was hard to predict. He could either be calm or feral, calculating or impulsive, sedate or violent. His demeanor was volatile and made him extremely _dangerous_.

Yet, here she was, in his custody with her life hanging in the balance, heedlessly pushing buttons and testing limits. She couldn't help it. She had always been hotheaded and combative. Surprisingly, being in presence of a murderous superhuman who could end her life in an instant didn't seem to change that. He just made her so _angry_ _._ His hubris infuriated her. It's like anytime he started talking he knew the exact things to say to set her off. And once Bulma was set off, well, it was hard to control her.

Hours after he'd kidnapped her, when Bulma had done pretty much everything she could think of to distract herself, she began to brainstorm her escape.

She didn't have many options.

Bribery was out. She had already tried that. It had been impulsive, for sure, but she wasn't ashamed. Desperate times called for desperate measures - and it's not like she hadn't tried using her looks to her advantage in similar situations before.

Making a run for it was out of the question. What with Vegeta's little display of speed earlier, Bulma knew even if she sprinted she wouldn't make it more than a few yards before he caught her. Plus, he had made it pretty crystal clear that if she tried to run, there would be consequences – and the Saiyan didn't strike her as one to make idle threats. Needless to say, Bulma didn't feel particularly eager to part with any of her limbs.

Physical resistance was just as absurd. The fighter was, quite literally, _thousands_ of times stronger than her. Trying to fathom his power was like trying to fathom the power of a god; it was beyond human comprehension. He had nearly broken her jaw earlier with but a light squeeze of his fingers, and before that, when she had pummeled him from behind, it had been like pounding on a brick wall. If she were to attack him and he retaliated by so much as even _hitting_ her, Bulma was confident it would be enough to kill her. She could try the machine gun stored away in one of her capsules, but she knew even that would be useless against him. If Earth's military arsenal wasn't enough to stop him, she failed to see how one puny assault weapon of hers would.

She sighed. As far as she could tell, there was no escape from this situation. At least, no immediate escape, anyway.

No. She would need to think outside the box if she hoped to live.

But what?

She stole a glance at Vegeta. For how trigger-happy and quick-tempered he was, he was weirdly patient. For hours now, he had been sitting against the wall in the same position - legs out with his ankles crossed, arms folded over his chest - alternating between resting his eyes and staring off broodingly. _What kind of psycho can just sit that still for so long?_

Curiously, as she stared, she found herself half wondering what kind of things _Vegeta_ could be thinking about. She was a scientist, after all; it was in her nature to be inquisitive. She couldn't help but find something strangely alluring about his mysterious air.

That gave her an idea. A shoddy idea, but an idea nonetheless. Maybe... if she could break the ice somehow - learn a bit about him, stroke his ego, gain his trust - it might just be enough for him to eventually let down his guard so she could make an escape. She was basically grasping at straws with this plan, but she had no other bright ideas at the moment, and she was getting antsy. She needed to do _something._

There was a glaringly obvious problem, though. Vegeta was clearly not the conversationalist. If there was one thing she had already learned about him already, it was that talking to him was much like trying to charm a cobra. No matter how much tact you used, you were at risk of him striking at any moment.

And what the hell would they even talk about? The weather? How he got his hair to stay like that? Maniacal plots to take over the universe?

Bulma sat mulling over this idea for nearly another hour before she finally decided it was worth a go, and even then, it took another several minutes to muster up the courage. Finally, with a deep, unsteady breath, she stood and made her way over to Vegeta.

 _You can do this, Bulma. You can do this, you can do this!_

He didn't bother looking at her as she approached. "What do you want?"

She did her best to brush off the harshness in his tone and sat down a couple yards away from him. Not too close, obviously. She wasn't that crazy.

She forced a shaky smile. "I... thought maybe we could start over."

His head stayed in place, but his gaze shifted to her slowly. A sudden chill slithered through her, and it took everything she had in that moment to not turn around and crawl away. _On second thought, maybe this is a bad idea..._

"I just... think we got off on the wrong foot, you know?"

He stared at her for a long moment, then let out a loud and raucous laugh. "That's cute," he mocked, tilting his head at her. "Are we _friends_ now? Going to shoot the breeze?"

Bulma faltered, mind blanking. "I...I..."

"'Start over'... Please." He scoffed. "You're my _hostage_ \- have you forgotten already? Or is your skull just so thick that it doesn't grasp the concept? I didn't bring you here to _chit chat,_ Girl." His head turned away. "Beat it. Go back to reading your silly picture books or whatever it is you were doing."

 _He's so rude!_ Bulma went on the defensive, instantly forgetting her fear. _"Hmph,_ excuse me - you don't have to talk down to me, you know! We could be here awhile, and all I mean is..." She paused to rein in her anger and started again, her tone softer. "...All I mean is, there's nothing to do but wait, so we might as well get to know each other a little bit to pass the time, don't ya think?"

He snorted. "And what could I possibly have to gain from such a ridiculous idea?"

"Well, for one, it would keep me from _dying_ of boredom before my friends even get here. Seriously, Vegeta, I'm going crazy over there."

He shot her a side glance and scowled. "Really, are you such a child that you can't handle sitting still for a couple days?"

"Hmph. Don't act like it's somehow normal to be as aloof and antisocial as you. I'm a social being; I need _social interaction_." She braced her hands against the ground and leaned forward, looking at him earnestly. "If you're going to insist on keeping me captive here with you, then you're going to have to talk to me a little bit, Vegeta."

He looked away with a grunt.

When it was clear he had no intention of saying anything else, her frustration rose like tidal wave inside her. _"Ugh,_ will you get over yourself!" she blurted. "Look _,_ I get that you're a _prince_ and all and that you think that makes you better than everyone, but would it kill you to at least try to be just a little less _rude_? I'm just trying to talk to you!"

He remained silent.

" _Helllooo_?"

He whirled on her suddenly, eyes flaring. "Would you _shut up_?" Bulma instantly recoiled. He bared his teeth at her. "Good gods, _e_ very time you open your mouth, more nonsense comes out. I'm trying hard to refrain from BLASTING you into oblivion _right now_ , but I swear I'm finding it more difficult every time you speak."

For a long moment, she was silent, heart pounding, thoughts clashing. _Should I abort_? Part of her screamed yes. Clearly, she'd pushed a few buttons already. He was irritated, and it frightened her.

The other part of her though... said to hell with it.

"I'm just trying to talk to you, Vegeta." She kept her voice soft as she spoke this time.

He growled. "And how many times must I tell you, _Girl_ , that I have zero interest in _talking_ to you."

"You know, you keep calling me that," she observed sternly. "I'm not _Girl..."_

"Fine, _Woman_ then."

 _This guy is impossible!_

" _Hmph_! _No._ I'm not _Woman,_ either! I actually have this thing called a _name_! And It's _Bulma._ "

"And what does it matter, _Woman_ , when you'll be dead soon anyway?" The bluntness of his statement struck her like a slap to the face. She had been trying hard to keep the thoughts of death at bay, but his words served as a brutal reminder of the fate that most likely awaited her at the end of this whole ordeal. His eyes bore into hers, black as ebony and piercingly cold. "You think you'll be leaving this planet alive? Make no mistake - after I've killed Frieza, Kakarot and all of you are next." He grinned wickedly. "Even if you do manage to escape this ball of dirt, I'll come find you. It was my plan to pay another visit to Earth anyway. I'll bet I can sell it for a fine price, once I've purged it of all its worthless inhabitants."

This all seemed so pointless all of a sudden. What the hell was she thinking, trying to have a conversation with a person who wanted her and all her friends dead? What a stupid idea this had been. She supposed a small sliver of her had hoped that by giving him benefit of the doubt, she might discover that he wasn't nearly as bad to the core as he seemed. But now, she realized how stupid it was for her to even think there might be another side to him.

Then something occurred to her. "Well, wait, hold up a second." Her eyes narrowed at him. "Are you saying that no matter what happens, your plan is to kill us?"

"That right," he said, smiling.

"But I thought you'd said you would let us live if we gave you the information you want."

"I never said that."

Bulma nearly fell over. "Are you _for real_!? Well what's the point of any of this, then!" Her voice was rising again. "If you're just going to kill us anyway, why should we bother cooperating with you at all, _HUH_?"

He shrugged. "Depends. Is it a quick and merciful death you want – or slow and agonizing one? It's your choice, though I highly recommend the former."

" _NEITHER! I want neither!_ " Bulma was practically shaking with anger now. She wanted nothing more than to smack that arrogant smirk right off his face. "This is _ridiculous!_ I mean, I can kind of get you wanting revenge against Goku and all, maybe - but you would really kill the rest of us, even if we help you?!"

"Hmph. Why would I keep you alive?"

Bulma blinked through her rage. The answer seemed obvious. "Because _why not_? We're no threat to you! What reason would you have to kill us?"

He chuckled at that. "Reason? I didn't realize I need I reason."

The reply stunned her.

She was suddenly disturbingly aware that Vegeta, for unknown reasons, operated within an entirely different paradigm than she did. To her, it seemed obvious that someone would abstain from killing, unless there was something to gain from it. For Vegeta, though, it was – _unquestionably,_ it seemed - the other way around. What reason was there to _not_ kill someone, unless there was something to gain from letting them live? It was a system of thought so backwards, so demented, so chilling, that she couldn't begin wrap her head around it.

"What is wrong with you? Is this really how you get your kicks? By _tormenting_ people?"

"I guess you could say that," he chuckled.

"Why? Why are you _like this_?"

The last query had slipped from her mouth unintentionally, its magnitude making even her uncomfortable. She didn't really expect Vegeta to answer such a probing question. The guy wasn't just a closed book; he was book with a fucking padlock on it. She would need a crowbar to pry him open. And even then, she wasn't sure she even wanted to know what was inside...

"Like what?" he asked.

Bulma looked at him incredulously. "Mean? Bitter? Evil?...A _killer?"_ Did she really need to go through the whole list? "I mean, did something happen to you to make you this way?"

"Tch, what is this, a therapy session?" he sneered, then looked away. "What a pointless question. Killing is in our blood, simple as that."

Our _blood. He must mean Saiyan blood._ "No." She shook her head. "No, that's not true. Goku is a Saiyan, too - but I've known him his whole life. He's sweet. He would never kill anybody."

"Hmph." Vegeta's face twisted bitterly. "That's because that stupid planet of yours has made him soft. All Saiyans are killers, deep down. Even Kakarot. Even his little half-breed spawn."

" _No_ , you're _wrong_ ," she bit back, voice loud. "First of all, his name isn't _Kaka_ \- whatever. It's _Goku._ Get it right! Secondly, he may be a Saiyan, but that doesn't mean he has to be a _killer_ like y -"

Next thing she knew, she was on her feet with Vegeta directly in front of her, his gloved hand clasped tightly over her mouth. "Shut up!" His voice was low but forceful, and he was so close to her she could feel the words hot on her petrified face. She watched as Vegeta turned his head ever so slightly, and realized that he was focusing on something that was not her. "Someone's coming," he said. "I sense them." She let out a muffled squeak without meaning to, prompting the grasp to tighten. "Be quiet!"

They waited. Vegeta's breath hit her in steady exhales, his body still but incredibly tense. Her adrenaline was through the roof. Her body began to tremble and her heart pumped so hard and fast she was almost sure it would pop out of her chest. Was it... Frieza?

Suddenly, she heard voices. The men they belonged to were distant but fast approaching.

"I swear I heard something," she heard one of them say. "It came from over here."

"Are you sure?" came another voice. "I don't hear anything."

She grew still as a statue. She couldn't feel Vegeta's breath anymore; he was holding it, just as she was holding hers. Then, Vegeta's head turned sharply as a voice called out, loudly and clearly, "I-It's the dragon balls! And... VEGETA!" The Saiyan wheeled around, allowing Bulma to catch sight of the three armor clad men standing just a few yards behind him. There was an older human looking man with white mutton chops wreathing his face, a purple-skinned alien with an elongated head, and a yellow amphibian looking creature. She recognized instantly by what they wore that they worked for Frieza.

What came next happened so fast Bulma hardly had time to process or react. "DON'T MOVE!" someone shouted. She felt a rush of air as Vegeta's body left her. The purple soldier drew his gun, but he never had a chance to fire it. With lightning speed, Vegeta appeared before him. In one swift and fluid motion, one of his hands pulled the alien forward by the shoulder while the other released a vicious ki blast flush against his stomach. The soldier's body lurched as the beam tore straight through him, its power launching his frame like a ragdoll into the air.

Without a nanosecond's pause, Vegeta's arm then swung out and around, firing another whir of light at the bearded humanoid who had simultaneously raised his gun to shoot. The blast hit the man square in the chest. He hurtled back into the wall - the impact splintering the rock behind him with a clacking boom - and slumped to the ground in a lifeless heap.

Bulma watched the events unfold, utterly paralyzed. Time seemed to stop, blur by, slow down - all at once. Her mind was blank. Vegeta was acting faster than her brain was even able to formulate a single thought.

Somewhere in the hysteria, the yellow soldier approached her, but she didn't notice it. By the time she finally registered, it was too late. She heard the zizz of his weapon as it fired straight for her, heard the laser beam singing through the air. But then she blinked. And suddenly Vegeta's back was in front of her, his arm extended to the side. He had swatted the gun's beam away as if it were a fly.

The yellow soldier's mouth fell agape, and for a split second Bulma could _feel_ his dread. She blinked again. That was all the time it took for Vegeta to grab the amphibian by the head and drive it down onto the large rock next to them. He threw it down with such ferocity she could hear the skull as it cracked against the stone. It caved like a melon beneath Vegeta's hand, spraying what seemed like a bucket's worth of green goopy blood into the air.

It was then Bulma screamed.

Vegeta spun to her and rushed forward, stifling her shriek with his palm. " _Why are you screaming_! They're DEAD now!"

Her eyes blinked wildly. She was suddenly aware of a rapid, pulsating pressure in her head, and realized after a moment that it was her own pulse, booming in her ears. She could barely control her breaths, which were coming out her nose in sporadic, ragged bursts. It didn't help that a gloved hand was covering her mouth.

 _His hand._ With horror, she noticed that his glove was covered in green. Green _blood -_ and it was on her _mouth._ Frantically, she shook him off of her, panting. "Get your _disgusting_ glove off of my FACE!" she gasped.

That cry expelled the last bit of energy she had in her. Suddenly sapped, Bulma let her body sag against the wall, eyelids drooping into a tired daze.

Vegeta stepped away to look at her scathingly. "Grrgah, I knew I should have ripped out your tongue!" he spat. "Just look at the trouble your loud mouth is causing me!"

"H-Hold on, Vegeta…" She meant to exclaim it, but the words tumbled from her mouth, weary and broken. Her head was swimming.

"From now on, no more talking!" he declared.

"I...don't think that's gonna be a problem," she said absently, distantly glad he was going to leave her tongue intact. "I don't really feel like talking anymore."

Vegeta grunted at her and turned to walk away. She glanced at his retreating form, then glanced to the mangled body that lay just feet away from her. "What...what about the bodies?"

"What about them?"

She blinked, confused that she needed to clarify. "Y-You can't just leave them here. They'll rot."

The Saiyan contemplated for a minute, then extended a palm and proceeded to incinerate the bodies, one by one, until they were nothing but piles of ash. When he was done, he turned to her with a grimace. "There, all gone," he announced. "Happy now?"

"Not really..." While she was happy she no longer had to look at a bunch of corpses, the smell of singed flesh that now wafted through the air was not helping her mounting queasiness. "I don't feel so great.." When he'd sat back down, she turned her head in his direction. "T-Thanks for saving me," she managed meekly.

The Prince grumbled. He was brushing off his sleeves, seemingly avoiding her gaze. "Keep your thanks," he told her. "I didn't do it for you."

Bulma was quiet for a long time after. Partly from residual shock, partly from exhaustion, partly from her stomach which would not stop churning.

She replayed the brutal scene in her head multiple times. It came to her in blurred fragments which she struggled to piece together. It had all happened so fast. It couldn't have lasted more than a minute - _tops._ And yet, she had witnessed more death firsthand in that minute than she had in her whole life.

It would seem she had just witnessed the Saiyan in his element. It had been like watching some grisly, macabre ballet; Vegeta had moved with a savage grace, his lethal movements executed concisely but - at the same time - with frenzied hotblooded passion. Like a predator slaughtering its prey. It wasn't a fight she'd watched. It was butchery.

Is this what Goku would be like? - if he hadn't bumped his head and grown up on Earth? Would he be a killing machine like Vegeta? She hated to think that he could ever have turned out like that. And what about Vegeta? What would he be like if he'd grown up like Goku? Would he be different?

Vegeta insisted that Goku harbored some dormant desire to kill. But he was so so so so wrong. She knew Goku like the back of her hand. For the twenty-odd years she had known him, not once had he shown any sign of wanting to _hurt_ someone. Fighting, sure; he loved fighting and always had. But he had a heart of gold. So, clearly, killing wasn't a matter of Saiyan _nature_ , like Vegeta said. And if it wasn't nature, it had to be _nurture._ Vegeta must have been taught to think this way - by someone, or something, in his life.

Goku's battle with Vegeta flashed through her mind suddenly. Krillin had the chance to kill Vegeta, but Goku had pleaded with him to let the villain go. She - and everyone else for that mater - initially dismissed Goku's actions as a result of his massive head injuries sustained from battle. But now... Bulma wondered. Why _had_ he let him go? He didn't really think that there might actually be something _more_ to Vegeta than just a mindless impulse to kill, did he?

Once she was feeling a little better, a question occurred to her that she had had for some time.

She glanced to the Saiyan, who was sitting in his characteristic brooding fashion. "Vegeta?" she ventured. He either ignored her or didn't hear her - she wasn't sure which. She tried again. "Vegeta."

 _"What is it."_ His reply was harsh, but she'd take it.

 _"_ Where did you go after you left Earth?" she asked.

"Hn?"

"After your fight with Goku, and you got back in your space pod – where did you go? Raditz told us your planet was destroyed years ago."

There was a slight delay, before he answered, "I went back to headquarters."

Bulma blinked. "Headquarters...?"

Vegeta grunted at her, seemingly annoyed that he needed to clarify. "The Frieza Force main space station. I went there to recover before coming here."

 _Frieza Force..._ She didn't know what that was, but judging by the title, it didn't take a genius to guess that Frieza was in charge of it. Bulma chewed the inside of her cheek as she began connecting dots. "So, do you work for Frieza, then? Is he the one you sell planets for?"

Vegeta gave her a grunt of affirmation.

That explained why he and Frieza's men all wore the same armor. It also explained why they had seen two of the same space pod shooting down from the sky when they had first arrived to Namek. That space pod wasn't a Saiyan ship. It must have been some model of ship used by all of Frieza's men. But were the armed men they kept running into _soldiers,_ then? Or employees? That part still confused her. And, if Vegeta was working for Frieza, why did he keep talking about how he was going to kill him? Was this some sort of mutiny, then? Bah, it was all so puzzling, but Bulma doubted Vegeta would have the desire or patience to explain all the details right now.

She knew very little about this Frieza, but there were a few things she could deduce already. He was powerful, he had status, he was evil, and he was feared. It sounded like he was the one running this whole intergalactic planet-selling franchise (or at least some significant part of it), and he had enough influence that all these armed men were deathly afraid of him. Krillin and Gohan had said that his power level was the _highest_ they had ever sensed, and he seemed to make even the mighty Vegeta nervous - which, in and of itself, was disconcerting, to say the least. And clearly, he was evil... There was no other way to describe someone who could so heartlessly have an entire planet destroyed just to make a profit.

What was curious was how much Vegeta clearly hated this Frieza guy. Maybe it was just envy or rivalry, but it seemed like more than that. The hatred felt deep, rooted like a tree. It seemed _personal._ It was evident in the Saiyan's body language; the way he practically hissed the foreign name through gritted teeth, or the way his muscles tensed ever so slightly when he talked about him. This guy had some visceral effect on him.

Something stirred her intuition then, like a rap at the door. Bulma realized she recognized that hatred. She had seen it before, and recently.

"Raditz told us that it was a comet that destroyed your planet... Is that true..." Vegeta said nothing. "...Or did Frieza destroy it?"

That did it. Intuition was never wrong. The Saiyan looked at her, utterly flabbergasted. "H-How did you know that?"

"I'm a genius, remember?" she said, half-jokingly, before realizing that the joke was most definitely in bad taste given the subject of the conversation. Vegeta didn't seem to notice, though; he was too shocked. She went on to elaborate. "We... met some kids in outer space on our way here who tried to kill us because they thought we were working for Frieza. Turns out, he destroyed their planet." She paused, trying to figure out how to word the next part without making herself seem crazy. "The way they talked about him... I dunno, it just... it reminds me of the way you talk about him. You clearly despise the guy, so I kind of just assumed you might hate him for the same reason they did. Call it a lucky guess, if you want."

A short, but incredibly heavy silence descended on them. The air had shifted almost tangibly. Bulma inhaled sharply. "So, he did... destroy your planet..."

Vegeta was silent for a few moments. For the first time, there was a flicker of something in his eyes. Something she couldn't quite identify. Then he spoke. "Yes." His jaw clenched and he stared off at something far away, his muscles tensing beneath his tattered blue bodysuit. "I didn't find out until I came here to Namek. Though, I suppose I suspected it from the beginning."

"Why?" she breathed. "Why did he do it?"

She could see he was grinding his teeth. "He was afraid of us," he replied. "Frieza is extremely powerful, but he's nothing but a coward. He was stronger than any living Saiyan, but was afraid of the collective strength of our race. Feared that we would one day rebel and overthrow him. So he wiped us out."

Bulma sighed shakily, absorbing this information. So, the bastard had destroyed Vegeta's planet, then lied about it. What an unbelievable dickhead. _Like, yeah, Vegeta destroys planets, too, but I feel like he would at least have been honest about it if the tables were reversed._ Bulma shook her head, dispelling the weird thought she'd just had in Vegeta's _defense._

She hesitated before speaking again, unsure if she should ask... but then realized she was too invested now; she needed to know.

"But, Vegeta. You said you suspected he'd been the one all along...If that's so, why would you agree to work for the person who wiped out your entire race and planet?"

"Hmph, it wasn't my choice," he answered quickly. "He and my father struck an accord a long time ago and I was sold into his service."

Bulma's eyes grew wide. "You were... sold?" _Like... like a slave?_

"It doesn't matter now. I was a boy; I barely remember it."

He said it as if to curb any sympathy from her. But her eyes only grew wider. _He was only a_ boy _… when he was_ sold _? Like a slave?_

Her mind was spinning. She had so many questions. After a minute she chose one at random.

"If he was so afraid of the Saiyans that he felt he needed to kill all of them… Why did he keep you alive?"

There was a silence. Vegeta seemed to be thinking of how to answer. "Nappa, Raditz and I proved to be valuable assets over the years," he said finally. "We made him extremely profitable, so he kept us around." His explanation ended there, but it almost seemed as if his thoughts continued where his words ended, as though lost in horrors of things unsaid.

"Vegeta," Bulma said, the softness in her own voice surprising her. She never thought she would speak Vegeta's name with anything but malice, or fear, or anger. But her heart ached all of sudden. And it ached for him. By no means did she forgive him for anything - _of course not._ But.. that didn't mean she couldn't feel a little bad for the guy, right?

Her feelings of sympathy must have translated to her face, because Vegeta looked to her suddenly and grimaced. "Stop that!" he ordered sharply, then turned away, arms crossed. "Stop looking at me like that - like a fucking puppy died. Like I said, none of it matters now. Planet Vegeta is gone forever. And I don't care. All I care about it making my wish and making Frieza suffer. He will be begging me for death when I'm through with him." His eyes darted to her again, startling her. "Are we done here now? I was actually enjoying the silence before you felt the need to make my ears bleed with your insufferable voice."

The slight went straight over Bulma's head. She was too wrapped up in the bombshell of information she'd just learned. She nodded and turned away, lost in thought.

This was... a lot to absorb. _Sold_ to a psychopathic tyrant when he was just a child? The same tyrant who _blew up his home and people_? And sold by his _father_ no less? She was no psychiatrist but it didn't take one to recognize that those kind of traumatic events were bound to have some long-lasting and devastating effects on a person's psyche.

Worn out, Bulma lay down on her side. She was crashing from the adrenaline. It would take some time to process all of this, and she didn't have the energy right now. Instead, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, somehow finding that this time - despite the horrific events she'd just seen - she was not quite as afraid of Vegeta.

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A/N: Thanks for reading, and happy President's Day everyone! I'll be working on the next chap :)


	5. Chapter IV

A/N: Hello! I am sorry for the delay. I'm going to try my best to do weekly updates, though we will see how long I can keep up the pace! You can check my profile for updates on my story! I lied - this is the longest chapter yet! Though in general they will not be this long.

Huge huge thanks to _Dulcet Shoujo_ and _AztecGirl_ for their wonderful and encouraging reviews! - and as always, thanks to those reading, following and favoriting the story!

DISCLAIMER: I still don't own DBZ.

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CHAPTER IV

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The girl was out cold and snoring like a bear.

It seemed the little incident had taken a toll on her. Funny, considering she hadn't lifted a finger during any of it. He had done all the work... Well, not _work_ really... Killing those men had been like squashing bugs to Vegeta. But still. She couldn't have been more useless, just standing there like a weak-kneed fool. He came from a warrior race, where even the weakest of the weak were able to hold their own to _some_ extent in a fight. But this girl hadn't even made any moves to protect her own life. She was so feeble, so _defenseless._ Her frailty was repulsive.

Nonetheless, while he hated to admit it, there was something about her that was distracting him... He could brush it off as nothing - which he was inclined to do - but at the end of the day there was no other excuse he could think of for not sensing Frieza's foot soldiers sooner. It's not like they had been talking about anything important either, leading up to the attack. It had been just pointless squabble. And yet he had been so absorbed in it that he had let his guard slip.

What was going on? She was an attractive woman, but that wasn't it. Vegeta was not so weak-willed that he would ever let a pretty girl cloud his mind or judgment. Especially when the stakes were so damn high. _What is it about her, then?_

The snores had begun to crescendo, and Vegeta was fed up. He could barely hear himself think anymore.

"Woman," he called gruffly. "Woman, get up."

All he got was another resounding snore, this one hitting a volume he wouldn't have thought possible for such a tiny creature. A moment later, he lost his patience.

"WOMAN."

That did it. The way she bolted upright would have one think a blowhorn had gone off right in her ear.

"W-What is it - is someone coming - are we being attacked again?!"

"Would you calm down!" he barked at her. "We're not under attack! Though I wouldn't be surprised if Frieza's whole army knows where we are by now, thanks to your snoring."

The alarm melted away from her face. Her left cheek was red from the way she'd been sleeping, while on her other cheek was a daub of green - remnants from the skirmish. She let out a little sigh as she slumped back against the wall. "That's a relief," she said. "I don't think my little heart could take another experience like that." She thought for a minute, then threw a disconcerted glance his way. "I-Is that something we should be worrying about? More of Frieza's men finding us here?"

Vegeta huffed. "And what difference does it make? Either way you'll just sit there gaping like a fool. Why don't you just leave the concern to me."

She had many buttons, he was learning, and he had just pushed one of them. "And what exactly did you expect me to do, huh?" she said hotly. "They came outta nowhere! I wasn't exactly prepared! See these hands?" She waved her arms out at him, taking the finger of one hand and pointing emphatically to the palm of the other. "I can't shoot light beams - or lasers - or whatever the hell it is you shoot out of yours. I don't have super strength, or super speed, or super anything! - well, except a super brain, maybe - but that doesn't apply here!" She pulled back slightly and narrowed her eyes before adding, "And don't you tell me to 'leave the concern to you.' It's every bit my concern as it is yours. I nearly _died_ just a couple hours ago - ,"

"Tch, don't be so dramatic," he interjected. "No one even touched you."

"Well, one second later and they could have!"

His dark eyes glanced to her. "Please. Those 'soldiers' were a joke; I could have killed them with my hands tied behind my back. You were hardly in any danger."

The conviction of his words calmed her back down. She leaned back against the wall, thoughtful. "...It did seem… easy for you," she admitted after a few moments. "Man, I could hardly even follow what was happening. You were so _fast._ Those guys didn't stand a chance, did they?" He rumbled something in agreement. _"_ It's hard for me to believe this Frieza guy could really be that much more powerful than you… But Gohan and Krillin said that he's _way_ stronger." She said it as though she expected some reply from him. So, when he stayed silent she finally asked, "Just how strong is he?"

"Hmph, as if it's even worth trying to explain to a weakling like you. Frieza is the most powerful being in the universe, as it stands – that's all you need to know. Though" - He smirked as his eyes strayed to the dragon balls - "that will change soon enough..."

"...once you make your wish," she said quietly, finishing the thought. She hesitated. "Help me out, though, Vegeta. How will becoming immortal help you kill him, exactly? So, okay, he won't be able to kill you... That still leaves the power differential between you and him, right? Immortality won't solve that."

"It will." The Saiyan looked to her, his smile turning derisive. "You see, we Saiyans are... unique. Where other fighters' powers plateau, our power has no limits. It increases every time we fight – especially after a near death experience. Which is why your idiot friends actually did me a favor bringing me within an inch of my life on Earth. My strength only increased tenfold afterwards." He closed his eyes and gave a conceding smile. "Frieza was smart to destroy a race which such fearsome and interminable power. But his biggest mistake will be not killing me, too, when he had the chance. Once I make my wish, he can beat me senseless if he wants - and he will, over and over. But it won't matter, because every time I heal I will be exponentially stronger than before. He won't even realize until it's too late that every bone he crushes, every wound he inflicts - it will only be bringing me one step closer to becoming a Super Saiyan, and one step closer to his doom."

The girl had been dead quiet - absorbing his every word – but his last words made her inhale sharply. "…Super Saiyan?" Her voice held a degree of uneasiness. "What…w-what is that?"

"A transformation. It's an ascension of Saiyan power so great, it can only be sustained by a transformed state – and that state is a Super Saiyan. Those who fear it write if off as just a myth – but it's no myth. Frieza knew it, too. It's the real reason he was so afraid of us."

"…Oh. G-Great…" she said, insincerely. She took a deliberate breath. "So… you'll become this Super Saiyan, kill Frieza, and then…?"

"I will take his place as supreme ruler of the universe. Ruling is my birthright, and it was stolen from me. I fully intend on taking it back."

"Oh…" There was a long silence. After a few minutes, she ventured, "It must have been terrible - growing up under a guy like him. What was it like?"

She asked the question so tenderly, so candidly, that he almost answered without a second thought. But then he stopped. He looked to her suddenly, eyes narrowed, and practically hissed, "Why do you want to know?"

She recoiled. "I-I was just curious…"

"My past is of no concern to you," he told her tersely. "I will not talk about Frieza unless it involves talking about all the ways I'm going to make him suffer before I kill him."

"R-Right! Of course…my mistake."

He was extremely annoyed now. Just uttering Frieza's name was enough to make his blood boil; he didn't need to waste his time and energy dwelling on his childhood with him, too. Her even just posing that question had threatened to open the floodgates to memories he made a point never to think about. Things he never wanted to relive.

He regretted his conversation with her earlier. He should have never divulged any details about his past. He had been sold into the tyrant's service - so what? It wasn't a big deal; he had known several other soldiers working for Frieza for the same reason. And yet, he could tell she had pitied him when he told her. And he fucking hated pity. How she had even been able to deduce that his planet had been destroyed was beyond him. The girl was smart, and intuitive. He decided in that moment that he would be unwise to underestimate her. And just why was she inquiring about his past, anyway? What was she up to? He didn't care how innocuous she seemed. He had enough experience to know that people always have an ulterior motive. He didn't trust her – he didn't trust anyone.

Irritated, he turned his head away abruptly. "Now shut up and leave me alone. Your voice makes my head hurt."

"Hmph, geez! Fine!" she said. "There are nicer ways to say you don't want to talk anymore, you know." He threw her a quick glance. She had turned away and begun digging around in her bag. "Mr. Grumpelstiltskin over here. Maybe _you_ need the nap. Have you even slept since you got here?"

He glared at her and smile thinly, feeling particularly distrusting now. "You would like that, wouldn't you? To sneak off with my dragon balls while I sleep?" She turned to blink her big blue eyes at him. So innocently. He looked away. "Well, don't hold your breath. Elite warriors like myself learn how to forego the need for sleep. We can go weeks without it."

She seemed genuinely fascinated by that. "Wow, really? That's impressive." He heard the rustle of her tools and gadgets as she placed them on the ground. "I could have used a skill like that in college. Woulda made all-nighters a piece of cake."

"Hmph."

He was telling the truth, mostly. It was true he had learned through extensive training how to operate on very little sleep. That said, he'd be lying if he said the past few days had been easy. It was actually taking a massive amount of effort to keep his exhaustion at bay. The battles and lack of food only made it worse. Meditating was helpful and rejuvenated him just enough to keep him alert, but it was hardly a substitute for real sleep. But real sleep was too dangerous here, and a luxury he just couldn't afford. Not until he made his wish and got off this goddamn planet.

Their conversation fizzled into silence at last. The girl became absorbed in her gadgets while Vegeta took the opportunity to rest, letting himself drift somewhere between wakefulness and sleep. He hated this planet, with its humdrum scenery and plant people and three fucking suns. The constant sunlight distorted his perception of time, blurring the days together and making the hours seem extraordinarily long.

At some point, to his dismay, the Earth woman began to talk idly as she worked. A lot. He told her to shut up several times, but eventually, after recognizing its futility, gave up on it entirely. He was tired of wasting his breath and energy. And while the idea of physical action did seriously cross his mind a couple more times, in the end he refrained. Babbling incessantly seemed to be some compulsion of hers, he was realizing, and he wasn't convinced that wrenching her tongue out would even be enough to prevent her from talking. She might just be more intolerable. He decided it was a risk he wasn't willing to take.

So, he let her talk. Whether or not he participated in the conversation made no difference to her. She was perfectly content prattling on to herself. She talked about all sorts of useless things. How smart and beautiful she was. How she was heiress to the richest and most acclaimed company on Earth, a company her brilliant father had built. "You know, my dad's company is kind of like an empire," she told him loftily. "So, I guess that kind of makes me a princess in a way." She divulged to him her "adventurous" past, talking in detail about her stupid escapades with Kakarot and a bunch of other morons whose names he didn't recognize. And Yamcha, yes, she talked a lot about that scar-faced goon, driveling on about the minutiae of their relationship he could give two shits about. Weirdly enough, as annoying as it all was, Vegeta found he was getting used to the hum of her chatter; it was like a sort of white noise in the background. He tuned a lot of it out, mostly, but here and there he caught himself actually listening to her pointless stories, because, frankly, there was nothing else to do.

In time, though, her mood shifted. Her stories and self-aggrandizement turned into complaining about how much she missed Earth, her parents and all of her friends. Her voice became tremulous, and he heard a sniffle. Vegeta's face twisted sourly at the familiar sound. He opened his eyes and turned to look at her. Sure enough, there she sat, head hung, tears lightly falling from her eyes. _Tch, again with the crying..._

"Ugh, no," she snuffled. "My mascara! It's not waterproof." She blinked away the excess moisture and went to wipe her eyes. Her face blanched. Shaky fingers hovered over the green splotch on her right cheek. "W-W-What is...this?" she stammered. "Do I still have b-blood on my... face?" Her hand creeped up further, stopping near her ear. "EEEE, there's more!" She spun to him, her sorrows suddenly forgotten. " _Why didn't you tell me there was BLOOD on my FACE_?! It's been there this whole time?!"

He honestly hadn't thought anything of it. Fighting was messy; a little blood came with the territory. There was almost never a time when the Saiyan didn't have _someone's_ blood on him. He shrugged and smirked. "And what incentive would I have had to tell you?"

"UGH!" The exclamation came out part snarl, part groan, part wail. She practically dove for her bag, clumsily fumbling through it until she found a small towel. "Jerk!" she grumbled. She brought the cloth to her face, rubbing vigorously. "I can't believe you!"

Vegeta snorted, "Can't believe I saved your pathetic life? I can't either."

" _No_ – I can't believe you put your glove on my face when there was blood all over it!" She was scrubbing her face so hard, it was turning her cheek bright red. Vegeta watched her, utterly amused.

"If you're that squeamish about a little bit of blood, you'd have been better off staying home with your mommy and daddy," he sneered. "This is no place for a diva."

The girl stopped to throw him a stern look. Her scrubbing was not helping; there was black smudged around her eyes now and still dried green goop on her face. She looked ridiculous. "Hmph, well it's not like I knew there would be a bunch of murderous creeps here looking for the dragon balls, too! Believe me, had I known what I was getting myself into, I gladly would have stayed home!" Her face fell. "Now I'm trapped here - with _you_. No food, no water, no bathroom. What a way to live out my last days." She sniffled again, her eyes brimming with fresh tears.

Vegeta immediately bristled. "Enough!" he boomed. The volume of his voice made her jump. "Enough of your pathetic tears! I will not tolerate any more boohooing in my presence!"

She wiped away the unfallen tears with her sleeve - only smearing the black smudges more - then went back to scrubbing at her face with the towel. "Ugh! Why. Isn't it. Coming. Off! No, no, no - my beautiful skin! What is this stuff - glue? Do you ever even wash those gloves? I mean, did you even rinse them off after killing that other guy from awhile ago? Or is he on my face, too?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific than that. I've killed a few people since I've been here."

"The blue guy!" The second she said it, she averted her gaze, embarrassed."...The one with the green hair..."

It took the Prince a second to realize she was talking about Zarbon. He burst out laughing. "Oh, you mean the hideous beast you were fawning over?"

"He was _gorgeous!_ " she exclaimed, but then quickly backpedaled. Her face was beet red. "Well... in the beginning anyway. How was I supposed to know he was going to turn into a giant ogre!" She looked off suddenly, stars in her eyes. "Man, he was so _dreamy_ before, though," she said to herself. "Maybe I could've gotten over that little quirk..."

Vegeta scoffed. "What about Yamcha?" he said snidely.

She shook herself from her daze. "Hmph! What about him?" She was back to scrubbing her face, angrily this time. "It's not a crime to look at another guy. He flirts with other girls all the time! - but I get flack for thinking another guy's cute?" Her voice was rising steadily, her hands working viciously at her face. "I mean, if he can go out on a date with Becky - why can't I go out on a date with someone, else, too, _huh!_ It's just a ridiculous double standard - that's what it is! RRRUGH!"

Her anger climaxed, and with a growl, she threw down her towel and rose to her feet.

"I have to go pee again. 'Kay? So don't..."

"Yes, yes," he interrupted, waving her off, glad her tyrade was over with. He'd felt his blood pressure rise just listening to it. _Why did I even ask?_ "Just go. Be quick about it."

The woman disappeared around the corner, grumbling the whole way. When she returned, however, she was beaming. The prince eyed her carefully as she approached him, unsettled by this one eighty in her mood.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Okay, just hear me out." She took a breath and squared her tiny body. "What if I told you we could have a way better hideout than this place..." Vegeta instantly opened his mouth to object, but she cut him off. "... _and_ you wouldn't have to listen to me talk anymore?"

His mouth clamped shut at the last part. "I'm listening..."

"I spotted a cave while peeing just now. I'm sure of it! It's just north of here, and not that far!" The words were pouring out of her mouth in an excited rush. "A mile or even less I'd say. If we move camp there, I could set up my capsule house -"

"Your _what_?"

She sighed and opted to slow down to explain. "My capsule house. It's a house - with beds, a sofa, a bathroom, a refrigerator, a TV. I'll my mind my own business inside, and you can sit outside in silence. C'mon, tell me that doesn't sound nice?"

Nice? It sounded incredible. No more relentless jabbering? No more whining and yelling and blubbering? Just peace and quiet?

But still, he wasn't entirely sure he trusted this idea. He wasn't sure what she could possibly be up to - but he didn't trust her. "You're telling me these little capsules can store a whole house?" he asked, skeptical. She nodded eagerly. "How are you even sure the house will fit in this cave you purportedly saw?"

"Well, I can't be sure until I see it," she admitted. "But - "

"But nothing then," Vegeta cut her off and turned away, hearing all he'd needed to hear. "We stay here. I don't see anything wrong with this spot, anyhow."

The human pouted and clenched her fists like a child. "What are you talking about! Everything is wrong with this spot! I have no more food, no water, I stink to high heaven, I'm DIRTY." She made a moue and tapped the green on her cheek for emphasis. "Besides, this a hardly a 'hiding spot;' we might as well be out in the open! The whole reason Frieza's freaky buddies found us is because this hideout blows -"

"Wrong," he countered quickly, scowling at her. "Frieza's men finding us had nothing to do with this hideout and everything to do with your loud mouth."

She practically shouted, "My _loud mouth_?"

"Yes, _that's_ the one!" he practically shouted back.

For a moment, they just stared each other down. A strange and tense energy seemed to crackle between them. Then, her eyebrows relaxed and, impossibly, the smile returned to her face. "See?" she said. "All the more reason why we need to move camp! No more enemies finding us because of this 'loud mouth' of mine." Vegeta blinked at her, nonplussed. Had her provoking him just now been nothing more than an elaborate part of her sales pitch? She continued, hands on her hips. "You won't have to listen to me complain anymore, I'll get the simple luxuries I'm used to, you can do all the brooding you want in peace - it's a win-win, Vegeta!" She turned to the dragon balls, slipping a hand into her jacket pocket. "We can even encapsulate these bad boys for easy transporting. Here, look."

"Woman-"

" _Bulma_ ," she corrected him. She had already thrown the capsule down before he could protest further. There was a poof of smoke, which when cleared revealed no dragon balls to be seen. "Tada! See, they're safe that way, not to mention easy to carry around."

Vegeta blinked in astonishment. She tossed him the little bottle. He stared down in awe at the little contraption, amazed that, just like that, he was able to hold all seven balls in the palm of his hand. He said the word without thinking. "I-Incredible."

She flashed a cocky smile, making him instantly regret the comment. The girl's ego rivaled his own – it didn't need any more inflating. "That's Earth technology for ya! So, is it a yes? Can we move camp?"

"Hmph." Vegeta tucked the capsule into his armor and gave her a wary look. Desperate, she advanced, falling to her knees before him with her hands clasped together. He drew back instinctively. He found himself at a loss as he stared into the eyes of this strange creature, entirely unsure of what she would do next.

"Please, Vegeta? All I'm asking for is a hot shower before I die. Is that too much to ask?" She was so close to him. Her lack of fear was totally confusing. Her eyes bore into his own, wide and imploring – and so bright. How were they so bright here in the shade? Her irises in that moment seemed extraordinarily blue, contrasting brilliantly with the black around her eyes. "Won't you grant a girl's dying wish? Please, Vegeta? Please?"

He was momentarily transfixed. He didn't know whether it was the softness of her voice, or the poignant regard, but something was making him deeply uncomfortable all of a sudden. The feeling only grew the longer he stared. Finally, he tore his gaze away.

"Fine," he acceded. "But only so I won't have to deal with your yapping anymore."

Vegeta winced as she yipped with glee and hurriedly packed her things back into one of her "capsules." When she was done, he approached her and, without warning, gathered her in his arms. She squeaked as he tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. This time, as he adjusted her on his body, he was fleetingly aware of things he hadn't been aware of the last time he had done this. Such as what body parts he was brushing against - or the feeling of his hands on her skin. Whatever it was, it was deeply subliminal. The ghost of a thought, gone before it could even be questioned.

He took off low in the air. She was right – there was indeed a cave and it was extremely close. They were there in no time. When he reached its maw, he powered down, landing with grace on the moist soil. He could feel the woman move and rustle against his back. She exhaled sharply.

"Okay, now, can you put me down gently this t -"

But her sentence was cut short as he dumped her from his arms. He smirked when she hit the ground with a thud. Furiously, she flipped over to glare up at him. "You're an _asshole_!"

He didn't know why, but he found he enjoyed getting a rise out of her. His grin widened and he shrugged.

She was in the process of getting up when she caught sight of a tiny insect crawling harmlessly toward her. Terrified, she leaped away, falling on her rump a second time. He snorted. "You can't be serious," he said, looking down at her with crossed arms. "You're here, captive, with _me -_ and you're frightened by a little bug?"

" _Hmph_ , I can be scared of both, can't I?"

He dismissed her with a laugh and turned away to get himself comfortable again. He opted to sit near the cave's entrance, so he could keep an eye out for any trouble. With his back against the wall, he stretched one leg out and drew the other up, resting an arm on his knee. The cave was much bigger than he thought it would be. Its mouth stretched at least twenty feet wide, while its depths, undeterminable, expanded on into a pit of imposing darkness. He was liking it already. The smell of loam and cool, clammy air calmed his senses. He leaned his head back against the wall, relishing the coolness of the rock against his neck.

He couldn't help but be amused as he watched the woman grumble and attempt to wipe the dirt off of her yellow jacket and black leggings. She cared far too much about her appearance. Here she was, on an alien planet, death and destruction looming around every corner, and she was worried about her clothes getting dirty. _Ridiculous creature._

She topped off her endeavor by readjusting the pink headband on her head and smoothing her hair down. "Okay then," she said. She spun on her heel, and he watched the darkness swallow her up as she walked away. Her voice ricocheted to him from the darkness. "Hey, think I could borrow a little light over here?"

With a grumble, he acquiesced, rising and strolling into the blackness.

" _Hellloo?"_ she called impatiently.

"Pipe down, I'm right here," he said as he came up behind her. She jumped at his voice, earning another scoff from the Saiyan. Did everything scare this woman? He extended an arm, and in an instant, yellow light emanated from his hand, flooding the bowels of the cave before them.

"Yes, yes, this is perfect!" the woman exclaimed as she studied the surroundings. "Plenty of room!" She took a step forward and reached into her pocket. "Okay, now back up a bit."

His first instinct was to tell her he didn't take orders from her, but to his own surprise, he said nothing and did as she said. There was a hiss as a capsule hit the floor, and Vegeta found himself amazed once again when, in the blink of an eye, a dome shaped house stood before him.

The woman turned to him happily. The light from his ki cast defining shadows across her face, accentuating her already appealing features. "Thanks, Vegeta."

"Hmph."

An awkward silence followed. The Earthling shifted her feet uncomfortably. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then," she said, turning towards the door.

"Wait," he commanded. She stopped and looked at him. "There's food in there, isn't there?"

It'd been days since his last meal, which had been some charred brand of namekian bird that had tasted disgusting. He was starving. He was good at ignoring the hunger typically, but it had been mounting to an annoying degree over the past several hours. Plus, she had mentioned there was a refrigerator in there, so he couldn't see any reason not to take advantage of the situation.

She hesitated. "Uh, y-yeah... there is."

"I'm coming in then," he declared, brushing past her and opening the door.

He wasn't sure what he had expected, but this certainly wasn't it. Not only was the inside equipped with all the basic appliances and furniture one would expect of a home, but it was adorned with all the petty things, too: artwork on the walls; trinkets on the shelves; decorative plants. A pile of those magazines the girl loved so much sat open and strewn across the small table near the entry way, alongside a mug of undisturbed liquid - almost as though she had been sitting there just minutes ago. You would never have guessed that just moments earlier all of this was housed within a tiny bottle. How none of it got scrambled in there was beyond him. It was truly impressive technology.

He ambled through the main room toward the kitchen, the Earthling on his heels the whole way.

"Well, barge right in, why don't you! You got a real royalty complex, you know that? Struttin' in like you own the place, which - newsflash! - you _don't_!"

He dismissed her with a wave. "Oh, that's funny," he said, sardonic. "I wasn't aware I needed permission from my hostage to do as I please." He ignored her glower and began rummaging through the refrigerator. It was stocked full of things completely foreign to him. "What is all this blasted stuff, anyway."

"Like I'm just going to tell you!" She marched away to a closet. "Hmph, I'm not gonna just stand around and be complicit in feeding the guy who wants to kill all of us." She pulled out a towel, snatched some clothes from the floor, and headed toward what he assumed was the bathroom. Before entering, she halted and shot him a glare. "I'm taking my shower!" she announced, slamming the door behind her.

Vegeta stared after her for a second, then huffed and resumed his foraging. He eventually settled on a few large legs of some animal. He pulled them out, not bothering to get a plate or silverware, and sat down at the round table booth near the kitchen. Without delay, he tore into the meat savagely with his teeth. He was so hungry he hardly took time to even taste what he was eating. It was fill his mouth to the brim, chew (barely), swallow, repeat. When he was done with those, he went back for seconds, and after that, for thirds. The fourth time, he snatched some rice, what looked like vegetables, and little pastries, too.

The girl took less time in the shower than he would have thought. When the bathroom door opened, a wave of thick, sweet-scented steam billowed out, filling the room. She emerged barely recognizable – and barely clothed compare to before. The white tank she wore was form-fitting, hugging her breasts while exposing her milky-white chest and arms. Her green shorts revealed more. They were extremely skimpy, leaving her legs completely bare all the way up past her thighs - leaving very little to Vegeta's imagination. Strands of her wet blue hair clung to the forehead and cheeks, which were flushed from her shower. She practically glowed. Vegeta took her in, not even noticing he had stopped chewing to do so.

She made her way to the couch, fluffing her hair with her towel along the way, and plopped down on the cushions. Vegeta went back to eating once more.

"So, that's a Saiyan thing, then," she said suddenly.

Mouth full, his eyes back up to her. "What?"

"Your… eating habits." She tilted her head as she combed her hair, eyes peering at him curiously. "You eat just like Goku."

He swallowed. "Hmph. Do not compare me to that buffoon," he told her, scowling. He was about to continue eating when he noticed she was still staring at him. His eyes narrowed. "Take a picture; it will last longer."

"S-Sorry." She quickly looked away, running the comb through her hair again.

Vegeta continued his meal, trying his best to ignore the smell that now permeated the room. It was strong, but incredibly pleasant.. And familiar. It was bugging him that he couldn't place the aroma. He had smelled it on her prior to moving camp, only before it had much more subtle, subdued by her grime.

After a couple minutes, her fine brows knit together in a frown. "I can't believe you monsters just sent Goku off when he was baby," she said, still combing. "How could you Saiyans do something like that? Shipping off poor little babies all by themselves!"

Vegeta scoffed. "Those 'poor' babies destroyed entire civilizations before they were even two years old. They were obviously more than capable of surviving on their own." He set down his half-eaten leg of meat. Unceremoniously, he leaned back into the seat and stretched his legs out to set his feet on the seat across from him. "Let me guess, you Earthlings probably coddle your infants, don't you?"

"Of course, we do!" she said, almost dreamily. Jovially, she clasped her hands together. "That's the only way to treat a baby! You cuddle them and cover them in kisses and pinch their cheeks and coo in their ears!"

 _Disgusting,_ he thought, feeling slightly nauseated.

"No wonder you're all such softies."

She gave him a sassy flip of her hair. "Hmph. Better than a bunch of callous jerks."

He watched as she rose from the sofa and sauntered to the refrigerator, his eyes inadvertently straying down the length of her legs as she leaned inside. She turned around with a single sliver of cake in her hands, snatched a fork, and approached the kitchen table. She set her things down and was about to sit when she noticed Vegeta's feet. Without a second thought, it seemed, she casually shoved them off the seat and sat down across from him. Vegeta started, astonished by her temerity, but she paid no notice.

"So, I was thinking…" she began, picking up her fork. "…What if you just asked the dragon to make you this 'Super Saiyan' thing, so you can defeat Frieza? I bet he could do it." She paused carefully. Almost like she was trying to gauge something in him. "...Immortality is kind of a big deal, don't you think, Vegeta? I mean, we're talking about living forever here. _Forever._ As in thousands of years from now, you'll still be around."

"And?"

She brought a bite of cake to her pursed lips. "And…well… I would think after a few hundred years, it would get pretty boring, right? Plus, you would outlive everyone you care about – would have to watch them grow old and die. You'll always be _alone_. Talk about depressing…"

"Is it?" Vegeta snorted. "Everyone dies." He watched her pull the bite of cake into her mouth with her teeth. Almost sensually… "I can't think of anyone whose life I care about, anyway."

She insisted. "C'mon, Vegeta. There's gotta be _someone_ you're close to whose death would make you sad? A friend? Someone you worked with? O-Or grew up with?"

"The closest thing to a friend I had was probably Nappa" – he caught her gaze and smiled fiendishly - "and I killed him already."

She paled and squeaked. "O-Oh yeah..."

He crossed his arms. "Besides, there are no such things as _friends_. Only wolves in sheep's clothing, waiting for any opportunity to stab you in the back."

"Like you did to Nappa…"

 _Cheeky Woman_. He scoffed. "I ended Nappa because he could no longer fight. He proved himself weak and a disgrace – and there's no room for that among the Saiyan Elite. It was a kindness to save him from such shame."

"How honorable of you…"

"Tch, you can't possibly understand."

"I do understand that people aren't out to get you like you think they are," she said. "Well, not always anyway. There are good people out there, Vegeta. Honest people. But it's give and take. You can't just be an asshole to them and expect them to not be assholes back." There was a brief silence. "…Anyway, you don't really want to end up _eternally_ alone, do you? Immortality would just –,"

"- Why do you keep pushing this?" he interrupted suddenly. His eyes were fixed on her suspiciously.

"I-I…"

It suddenly dawned on him. "You think you can dissuade me from making my wish for eternal life?" He snickered. "Nice try, but I don't think so. What was it you said to me before?... 'Fat chance, buster.'"

"Hmph – can you blame me for trying?" she said, ignoring his quip. Indignant, she leaned back and folded her arms. Almost like a mirror image of himself. "Excuse me if I find the prospect of an immortal, 'Super Saiyan' Vegeta a little terrifying. I think the universe could do with one or the other. Preferably _neither._ "

His nose crinkled into a sneer. "And what, I should just step aside and let you make your wish, then? The one where you wish back your useless friends? Or maybe you'd like to wish for a pair of panties again?"

She looked surprised at that. "Hey!" she smiled. "Good memory, Vegeta! And here I thought you weren't listening to any of my stories."

"How could I not remember such a _ridiculous story_!" he growled, annoyed that she'd missed the point entirely. He tensed with bridled frustration. "With your wish, we're history. Frieza will kill us all."

The woman checked out for a minute, lost in her own thoughts. "…Or maybe not." Her gaze snapped to him, eyes hard and gleaming. "Look. Hear me out. I know you don't like Goku – but if you guys work together…"

Vegeta stopped her immediately. " _Me?_ Team up – with _Kakarot?_ That's your bright idea? That's completely ludicrous." He spat the words out like poison, extremely insulted. The notion of fighting with that sorry excuse of a Saiyan was revolting... But that wasn't the only reason her suggestion was unthinkable. Killing Frieza – with _his own_ bare hands - had been a fantasy of his for longer than he could remember. And he would be damned if he let anyone take that satisfaction away from him. "I would sooner let Frieza kill me a hundred times over and destroy this entire universe than fight alongside that moron. I will be the one to defeat Frieza – I _alone._ I don't need anyone's help. Especially the help of a low-class warrior. He would be of no use to me, anyhow. My power would have far surpassed his by now. He and anyone else would only get in my way."

"What makes you so sure?" she challenged, brows furrowing. "You know the ship Goku's coming here in? My dad built it! - You remember my dad, right? He's a genius? Like me? – Well, he was able to integrate an artificial gravity machine into the ship's design – and it's calibrated to sustain all the way up to one hundred times gravity! Goku has been training his whole way here!"

If Vegeta had still been eating, he would have choked.

" _WHAT?"_

"And," she continued, ignoring his obvious shock, "if what you tell me about Saiyan biology is true, I'll bet he's way stronger now than when you fought him on Earth." She seemed to finally take notice of his surprise and smirked. "Still don't want his help?"

Her plate rattled as he slammed his elbows down on the table. " _And you're just now mentioning this, why_?"

With a wry twinkle in her eye, she shrugged. "'What incentive would I have had to tell you?"

Vegeta gawked at her, stunned by her audacity to throw his own words back in his face. He was more stunned by this information, however. Yet again, Vegeta had underestimated these Earthlings' first-rate technology. A machine that allowed one to train in increased gravity? It was genius. While serving Frieza, he and other warriors serious about improving their strength jumped at the chance to be sent on missions where the gravity was heavier than on the home planet. It was an excellent way of getting a power boost. But even then, it was usually only planets with five to ten times the gravity he was used to. And here was Kakarot, training at _one hundred_ times normal gravity?

This was not good news for him. _I need to hurry and make my wish - before that clown gets here._ "Where the hell are your idiot friends?" he barked with a sudden sense of urgency. "Why are they taking so goddamn long to get here!"

"Hmm, I don't know… Let me consult the crystal ball – that I don't have!"

"Tch! I don't have time for your wisecracks!" he snarled, eyes burning into hers. "This is not a game!"

"You don't think I know that!" But her tone softened suddenly. "I'm the one who's apparently doomed no matter what happens. But, you know what – I'm realizing there's not much I can do about it right now. And there's not much you can do either. We can only wait. So, getting yourself all worked up right now – and taking it out on me! – is pointless."

She took another bite of cake, this time getting a little bit of cream on her lip. Casually, she licked it away. It was a such a simple, mindless action. And yet, the motion of her tongue sliding over her lip sent a hot jolt of familiar heat through him. It shot downwards, pooling in his core.

The girl kept talking, clueless to the reaction her simple gesture had triggered inside him. "So, the way I see it, you could waste all your energy worrying about things you can't control – or you could try and relax just a little and enjoy the fact that you've been blessed with my beautiful company." She smiled coyly, but then pouted. "Hey!" she said, glancing across the table. He followed her gaze and realized she was staring at the desserts he had pulled from the fridge, but hadn't touched. "You took my fruit tart! Why didn't you eat it? Not a sweets guy?"

Blithely, she leaned across the table to grab the dessert, her breasts hanging down and kissing the table top as she did so. They drew Vegeta's eyes like a magnet. Cream-colored, full. The bra she wore contained them perfectly, squeezing them together to create a positively enticing amount of cleavage. His pulse quickened. The heat, simmering now, rushed even lower.

"Vegeta…? Is something wrong?"

He locked onto her eyes. They blinked at him with honest confusion. So demure, so innocent. It was too much. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him. He could feel heat begin to rise to his cheeks. He needed to leave. Immediately.

He stood so abruptly he nearly flipped the table. "I'm going back outside," he blurted, b-lining for the front door.

"Hey! Wha - ? Are you okay?" she called after him, but he ignored her. He exited the house, slamming the door behind him.

Once outside, Vegeta merely stood. It was so quiet. He breathed in the cold air in a desperate attempt to cool himself down. The serenity of the cavern belied the maelstrom inside him. His usually tenacious control felt flimsy, like it would shatter any moment. Scattered images of the human flashed in his mind: the curve of her breasts and her creamy white skin; her long legs and neck; her tongue and plump lips. He shut his eyes to them, but it was no use. They were still there, flooding his senses, drowning out everything else.

He cursed himself for not taking her earlier when she had offered herself to him. He should have said yes! He should have thrown her on the ground and taken her right then. Now, it was too late.

Wait a second...

What the hell was he even thinking? It wasn't 'too late.' She was right there, ripe for the taking. Why was he fighting this? He didn't need to. He could have her and then be done with these annoying thoughts. It's not like she could do anything to stop him - though Gods knew she would try. That weakling human could pour every ounce of strength into hitting him, clawing him, biting him - and none of it would even faze him. He could go back in there right now, grab her, effortlessly pin her down and...

The image of the woman unwillingly secured beneath him played behind his eyes. But, instead of liking the thought, as he expected he would, he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. It made his stomach churn in a very different way. _Why._

This was fucking ridiculous.

 _Screw this._

With a snarl, Vegeta turned back to the door, put his hand on the knob, and went back inside.

* * *

A/N: Phew, boy! Thanks for reading everybody! Hope you liked it, stay tuned!


	6. Chapter V

A/N: So sorry for the delay! HUGE thanks to all the reviewers ( _xXMetal-MekashiXx, Candylolz, Aztec Girl, Mariiebelle, Winrycherry101, and Wangz_ )! Thank you thank you thank you! Your words of encouragement seriously warm my heart when I read them! :) :)

Seems like my chapters are always longer than I anticipate. Hopefully they're not too long.

Please enjoy!

Disclaimer:I don't own DBZ

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CHAPTER V

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Bewildered, Bulma sat and stared at the empty seat across from her.

She didn't know what to make of Vegeta's abrupt and, frankly, _bizarre_ exit. He had definitely been upset when she told him about Goku training in increased gravity. It could be he was so angry about the news that he had left so he could cool off? But somehow she wasn't convinced. No doubt, a furious Vegeta would have yelled at her first, berated her, stormed out in a huff. Instead, he had just up and left without any explanation. Not like he was angry, but rather like he was in a hurry. He didn't storm out; he _rushed_ out.

But who was she kidding? It's not like any of this made sense to begin with. Here she was, trapped in what was essentially a mobile home on an alien planet, playing quasi house with _Vegeta_. Was she really going to sit here and try to rationalize the irrational? And besides, what did she care if he left! The jerk. She was finally alone - in a house! With a bathroom, food, entertainment, a bed. She had way better things to do than try to decipher the mystery that was Vegeta. She was probably reading too much in to it, anyway. The grumpy Saiyan had probably just left because he was fed up 'listening to her insufferable voice.' It wouldn't be the first time he ended a conversation abruptly for that reason.

Satisfied with that explanation, she rose from the table and started through the living room to the bedroom.

 _Maybe I'll take a nap - or watch a movie. Or do my nails!_ She smiled to herself. _So many options!_

Bulma was halfway to the bedroom when the front door flew open. She let out a shriek, her head whipping around to find a very frazzled looking Saiyan in the doorway.

She went from terrified to relieved to furious in an instant.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?" she bellowed, clutching her chest. "You nearly gave me a _heart attack_! Can't you at least KNOCK before you BARGE in?!"

A quick once-over of the fighter, though, had her fury quickly subsiding. Something about him was... off. His whole body looked tenser than usual - and even his usual impassive expression appeared oddly forced. She blinked. "...Vegeta?"

Averting his gaze, he marched in without a word, his strides hurried and determined as he moved toward the kitchen. Her anger rose again as she watched him. Obviously he had heard her - which meant, for whatever reason, he was _choosing_ not to acknowledge her.

" _Hello_ , I'm talking to you!"

Vegeta ignored her again, not stopping for a second. Rounding into the kitchen, he snatched up the half-eaten leg of meat from the table, then spun on his heel and made his way swiftly for the door once more.

She crossed her arms, raising her voice. "Hmph, a little _acknowledgment_ please?"

" _Shut up!"_ he snapped finally, rushing back outside.

When he slammed the door, she stared after him, completely stumped. _What a weirdo..._

In the bedroom, she stretched out belly down on the bed as she pondered what to do. After some consideration, she decided to give her father a call. She hadn't talked to him in quite awhile - the last time being well before she had been captured - and he would want to know what was going on. Plus, she needed to vent, dammit. She grabbed the transmitter from the nightstand, propping herself up on her elbows as she turned it on.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Dad," she told him, after she had explained the situation. "I'm trying to keep it together and stay positive but it's hard, you know? This is one of the worst things that could have happened. I mean, why do these things always happen to _me_? I swear, it's like I'm just a bad luck magnet! I'm a good person - I don't get where all this bad karma keeps coming from!" She paused and waited for a reply, irritated when none came. "HELLO, Dad? Are you even listening to me!"

Her father's voice crackled on the other end. "W-What? Mm, of course, dear. Of course."

"What do you think I should do?"

"About what, dear?"

Bulma grunted. "About being _kidnapped...?_ By VEGETA?" There was another silence. "UGH, really, Dad. Have you been listening to _anything_ I've said! What could you possibly being doing right now that's more important than my dilemma!" She pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance before reiterating. "A couple days ago, these two aliens captured me and tried to take me to this evil warlord, Frieza, who's here looking for the dragon balls, too. Vegeta saved me... Well, not _save_... He kidnapped me from them, and now he's holding me hostage! What's worse - he has all the dragon balls now! All he needs is to figure out how to summon the dragon and we're doomed." Silence. "You do remember _Vegeta_ , right? Spiky hair? Insanely powerful? Tried to kill Goku and DESTROY the planet?"

"Mm, yes, Vegeta. No, that does sound _awful,_ sweetheart," her dad acknowledged half-heartedly.

"It IS!"

"Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

That question took her by surprise for some reason. "N...No... I'm not hurt..." she answered, curiously. Her thoughts began turning like a mill. "Actually, Vegeta... hasn't even really touched me. He even agreed to move us somewhere where I could set up the capsule house - and is... giving me _space_." Her brows furrowed, the revelation confusing her.

"Well, now, that's good. I'm relieved to hear it, dear."

"Yeah... I guess it is good. Well, not _good._ But I guess it's... not as bad as it could be..." Bulma scratched her head, then shook it suddenly. "But whatever! I mean, the guy is still evil. He wants to use the dragon balls to wish for immortality and become ruler of the universe. If he gets his wish, we're done for, Dad! All of us! Even if he doesn't kill us here and we make it off this planet, he says he'll come back to Earth and kill us all."

"Well, just hang in there, dear. Goku should be there any day now. I'm sure he... others...rescue you from Vegruuurb…"

"Dad...? Dad, I'm losing you..." But the connection had already dissolved into static. "Ugh, stupid thing!"

With a huff, she threw the transmitter to the floor. Her thoughts were swirling now. Sighing, she rubbed her temple and flipped onto her back, her blue eyes fixing meaninglessly on the ceiling.

 _"...the guy is still evil..."_

 _Evil._ That word. Why had the word felt so strange on her lips? Almost like it was misplaced. But that didn't make sense. Vegeta was evil...

… wasn't he?

She scolded herself. Of course he was. What else could explain all the horrible things he had done - all the horrible things he planned to do? Only a depraved individual could commit such heinous acts. Either that or someone utterly deranged. And Vegeta wasn't deranged. He was keen as a hawk, practical, and generally sensible - in his own weird way. He knew exactly what he was doing when he killed people. He just didn't seem to care.

But, at the same time, he couldn't be all bad, could he? Now that she thought about it, it was odd that Vegeta had barely laid a hand on her. Sore jaw aside - she was virtually unscathed. Why? She had spent nearly two days now with this supposedly sadistic and heartless monster. Where were the bruises, the cuts, the broken bones? He could have done all sorts of things to her by now if he had wanted to. He could have beaten her, tortured her... raped her. But he hadn't. The Saiyan mostly just left her alone, and if anything, had even _protected_ her from danger - _twice_ now. Sure, he was generally mean to her; he was threatening, verbally abusive, and a total ass. But his behavior toward her so far was hardly representative of someone _evil_.

… So, what was she missing, then? Where was the disconnect? Was he evil, or not?

Bulma sat up abruptly, shaking her head to clear it. If her goal was to stay positive, then she didn't to spend her time ruminating. Besides, hadn't she just told herself back in the kitchen that she wouldn't waste her time thinking about that jerk?

Back in the main room, she went on the hunt for things to keep her preoccupied. For awhile, she snacked on her cake and other various sweets while reading her tech magazines. After that, she tidied up the kitchen, watched a sitcom - and even busted out her dartboard.

The dartboard was a silly, makeshift thing she had thrown together before their departure to Namek. It was rather small, and in the middle she had pasted a picture of Yamcha's cute, goofy face as the bullseye. At the time, she had made it as a lighthearted gesture - a playful way to keep him close to her heart and to get her pumped for wishing him back...

But that had been before. Before they had known what awaited them on Namek. Before she had been kidnapped, and Vegeta collected all the dragon balls. Now it wasn't with joy that she hung the dartboard on the wall. It was with a heavy heart.

She missed Yamcha. They had their problems. He was a flirt, and she often questioned his fidelity. But they had been together for years, and she did love him. Up until that very moment, she had still thought of him in the present tense. She had considered his being gone not as "death" but as a "leave of absence," since the dragon balls were supposed to bring him back. But now, as she stared at his face on this stupid dartboard, the reality was hitting her. Yamcha was _dead._ And there was a good chance he was never coming back.

Her eyes became watery. She couldn't bring herself to play anymore. Crestfallen, she sat down on the couch, sinking back into its worn cushions with a sigh.

She was doing the best she could, given the constraints of her situation. She couldn't escape, but she had thought maybe, with enough tact, she could somehow steer Vegeta away from making his wish. It really was a stupid wish anyway. Who the hell wanted to live forever? But, as she was learning, Vegeta was not easily manipulated; he had seen right through her ruse. And he was dead set on immortality.

It made her so mad! The solution she had offered to him as a compromise made perfect sense! Goku and he were pretty much equal in strength. Krillin was stronger than before; Gohan - whose "hidden powers" had probably been awakened by now - was stronger than before. She had to think that all their strength combined would be enough to defeat Frieza, right? This guy couldn't be _that_ powerful.

But he had shut the idea down immediately. The stubborn ass. She guessed she could understand to some extent why he didn't want to work with Goku. Vegeta had a big ego - and Goku had done a number on it back on Earth. He definitely seemed like the kind of guy to hold a grudge, and internally was probably still licking his wounds. But, Goku aside, it didn't seem like he wanted _anyone_ _'s_ help in defeating Frieza. Was it also ego that made him determined to beat him _alone_? Dammit - why was he so determined to be _alone_ all the time? To do everything _alone_ , to live forever _alone_?

 _Maybe because he's always been alone._

The revelatory thought tugged at her heart a little. Maybe he was so insistent on being alone because that was all he knew? He had made it clear that he had no friends - and it was unclear to her if he had _ever_ had a real friend. _Isn't he lonely?_ She couldn't imagine not having friends or people she could talk to and depend on. But then again, she'd grown up surrounded by loving friends and family. Vegeta on the other hand... Well, she got the impression that he had been betrayed a lot in his life. She could tell by the mistrustful way he carried himself and the cynical way he spoke about people.

It was hard not to feel a bad for the guy on some level. It sounded like he had been through a lot growing up. Frieza didn't exactly sound like the kind of person to foster a _safe_ and _loving_ environment for developing children. What had those years been like for him, she wondered? To her, childhood meant a time to play and make friends. To be loved and feel safe. To be innocent and carefree. But from what she gathered, Vegeta had experienced very little to none of those things.

 _I wonder what he would be like if..._

Bulma shook herself again. There she'd gone, brooding again - and thinking about Vegeta! What the hell? Grumbling, she grabbed her tech magazine off the side table, burying herself deliberately in its pages. It worked for a short time. But eventually she caught herself rereading the same line as her mind drifted yet again. She groaned and threw the magazine to the floor.

It was no use. The distractions weren't working. No matter what she did, her thoughts of Vegeta and her situation kept surfacing to pull her back down. What she really needed was company. That always did the trick back home when she was upset about something. She would hang out with friends, talk on the phone. It always got her mind off things.

She considered calling her dad again, though to be honest he was not the best listener. Plus, the connection was bad, and was not something she felt like fussing with right now.

There was Vegeta…

She looked to the clock. It had been a couple hours since her and Vegeta's last (very strange) interaction. She wondered what he could be up to outside. _Sitting and moping, no doubt._ The idea of going and willingly talking to him did seem crazy. She was going to talk to a guy to distract herself from a dilemma that was his fault in the first place? - The irony was not lost on her. But at this point she was desperate for any sort of distraction. Anything to keep the dark, spiraling thoughts and depression at bay.

Knowing it would be chilly in the cave, she went to her dresser and pulled out one of Yamcha's old sweatshirts, donning it over her tank. It was much too large for her. Its long sleeves trailed past her hands, while its bottom swooped down almost to her knees. She looked silly, but she didn't care. The faint smell of his musk still clung to the deliberately unwashed fabric, making her feel close to him. With a somber smile, she gave herself a little hug and proceeded for the door.

Outside, the crisp air and smell of humus invaded her lungs. Goosebumps formed along the delicate skin of her legs, making her shiver. She could make out Vegeta's form propped against the wall at the entrance of the cave. Mindful of her steps in the darkness, she leisurely made her way toward the Saiyan, preparing herself for the less than amiable greeting she was sure to get from him.

When she drew closer, though, something caught her eye that stopped her in her tracks.

The Prince was sitting in his stereotypical position. Legs outstretched. Arms crossed. Eyes closed. Head turned to the side and… _Wait a second..._ Her breath caught in her throat as she edged closer. His eyes were _closed_ , and his head was _lopsided_. Her eyes went wide. _Is he_...

 _...sleeping?_

A couple more steps toward him confirmed it. Bulma froze, unable to believe her eyes. "Vegeta?" she called softly.

Nothing. Not a peep. Automatically, she inspected the area around him. On the ground by his side lay the leg of meat from earlier, gnawed clean to the bone, and her capsule. The capsule with the dragon balls.

Her pulse sped up when she finally grasped the import of the scene in front of her. The word _escape_ sounded in her mind like a siren.

She could leave. Right now. Nab that capsule, grab her airbike from inside, and hightail it out of here. She wasn't sure where she'd go. Somewhere far away. Far away from this cave and from him.

 _Go go go._

Her eyes darted back and forth between the capsule and her captor, her stomach knotting. Despite the cool temperature of the air around her, beads of sweat budded on her skin. Her mouth went dry, and she licked her lips in a vain attempt to wet them. Her ears rang. Her chest felt tight. Her mind was tunneling, fixed on one thing and one thing only. Shaking, she turned and slipped away, back to the house.

Inside, Bulma was racked with an acute sense of dissociation. She floated somewhere outside herself as her body acted on autopilot. Swiftly, her legs carried her through the room to her yellow jacket on the floor, where her hands dug through the pockets until they found the container of capsules. Deft fingers opened its sleek white lid, pulled out the capsule that held her airbike, and shut the box.

When the box closed, though, she came back with a jolt. Her thoughts returned with a vengeance, all at once lurching to the forefront of her brain.

And suddenly, she couldn't move.

… Why was she hesitating? Vegeta's guard had finally slipped! This was the very moment she had been hoping for, wasn't it? Her escape was outside, practically gift-wrapped for her; it was too perfect to pass up. This was it! It was now or never!

But she couldn't budge. Emotions burst inside her, colliding and clashing. There was one in particular that she identified immediately: guilt. The thought of leaving was actually bringing her _guilt._ All she could see was Vegeta in her mind's eye, growing up all alone, with no one he could trust. _There are no such things as_ friends, he had told her. _Only wolves in sheep's clothing, waiting for any opportunity to stab you in the back._ He had said it with such tragic conviction. Somewhere - deep, deep down - she couldn't help but feel this nagging, incongruous desire to prove to him that that wasn't true. That he could trust people - that he could trust _her._ And she couldn't prove that to him by leaving. Leaving would just be "stabbing him in the back," wouldn't it?

 _Ugh, get a grip, Bulma!_ she scolded herself. _The guy is a total jerk! You don't owe him anything! He's the reason your friends and Yamcha are dead! He's a killer! And he'll kill you, too - especially when he finds out you took off with the dragon balls._

That triggered a new line of thought. She hadn't even thought through the practicality of this plan. What made her think she could even make a successful escape? Krillin had told her she was extremely difficult to sense her because her power level was so low - which meant there was a decent chance Vegeta would not be able to find her once she got away. But, that also meant there was a chance he _would_ find her.

Bulma bit her lip. Who was she kidding? Of course he would find her. She was slowly coming to understand that, for Vegeta, the dragon balls weren't just about making a wish. For him, they were the key to righting all the wrong done to him. The key to taking back what he never had. Security. His throne. Freedom. He would kill for them - he _had_ killed for them. He would probably level the entire planet until he found her.

Which begged the question: what would he do when he found her?

The thought summoned a chill so cold it knocked the breath out of her.

Would Vegeta really... hurt her? She wanted to believe he wouldn't; he had yet to display any real violence toward her. But maybe these past couple days had just lulled her into a false sense of security. After all, just because he hadn't harmed her, didn't mean he _wouldn't_ harm her.

" _Don't even think about trying to escape, or I can't promise I'll be returning you to your friends in one piece."_

The threatening words rang in her mind like a peal of bells. Accompanying them was the jarring image of the yellow alien's head, exploding in Vegeta's hand. The memory made her feel sick. It dawned on her, in that moment, just how easily that could be _her head._ She gulped.

 _On second thought, maybe I should stay._

Besides, hadn't she _just_ been in her room, thinking how being Vegeta's hostage wasn't all that terrible? How did it make sense risking her life to escape a situation that wasn't even that bad? Also, it wasn't like Vegeta was her only threat. She faced many dangers out in the namekian wilderness. She would be a target for anything and everything bigger or stronger than her. Animals. Frieza's soldiers. At least here, she had Vegeta's protection. And she couldn't lie; she felt a strange sense of security with him. Having the Saiyan around was essentially like having a superhuman bodyguard.

Bulma set her jaw, nodding to herself. It was settled, then. She was safer here, for the time being. All she needed to do was tough it out and wait for Goku and the others. Like her dad had said, Goku was scheduled to arrive any day now. He always had a way of swooping in and saving the day just in time. Plus, Gohan and Krillin would be back anytime now, too. She was certain that, with their strength and Goku's, they would be able to rescue her. Maybe they could even get the dragon balls back! _Yeah, positive thinking, Bulma!_ _In the meantime, I can keep trying to chip away at Vegeta - maybe talk some sense into him. Make him see the light._

Bulma looked to the clock, shocked to see that she had tormented herself for nearly an hour over the decision. With a shadow of a doubt, she placed the airbike capsule back into the container. _I hope this is the right decision.._

Back outside, Vegeta was still sleeping. Carefully, she approached him.

It was strange seeing him like this. Awake, Vegeta was indescribably arresting, an active force whose very presence sucked the air out of a room. But asleep, the menacing aura vanished. He became a person, like everyone else. He suddenly seemed so passive, subdued, vulnerable...

Filled with curiosity, she moved to him until she was only a couple feet away. His sleep was deeper now. The usual tension in his muscles had melted away. Aside from his chest, which rose and fell with deep, steady breaths, every part of him was perfectly still. Even his face had relaxed. Now free of the hallmark scowl, it held a softness she hadn't thought possible for Vegeta. For once, he looked serene. Kind. Handsome.

 _Handsome._

The epiphany made Bulma inhale sharply. How had she not noticed before? Maybe because she was always busy being either scared of or mad at him. But now, in this light, it seemed obvious: Vegeta was actually _handsome._ He wasn't the kind of guy that belonged on the cover of a romance novel. He didn't have Yamcha's baby-faced, boyish charm, or Zarbon's sophisticated and elegant male beauty. Vegeta's features were rough-hewn, strong and distinct. Thick black brows. Crazy hair with a diving widow's peak. A pointed nose and a jaw that could cut glass. There were fine lines atop his tan skin from the constant scowling, but somehow they only added to the allure. His good looks were rugged, wild... and undeniably masculine.

 _Maybe if the guy wasn't such a jerk..._

Suddenly, the face she was admiring twisted back into a scowl. "Fr... Frieza…" the Saiyan rasped in his sleep. His voice was hollow, yet she could feel the immeasurable pain in it. She brought her hands to her chest as another wave of sympathy rushed through her.

It made her shudder to think what kind of nightmares Vegeta must have. Given the little she knew about him, no doubt death and violence were involved. Was Frieza hurting him? Maybe they were battling? He cried out again. A fine sheen of sweat had begun to line his forehead, and his body began to tense back up.

Seeing him like this... was upsetting. She wanted to wake him, but she didn't dare. She had no idea how someone like Vegeta would react to suddenly being jarred awake. She could think of a couple people she had walloped in the face when they had tried waking her up. And while her punches left a bruise - Vegeta's punches were lethal. He made another sound, a whimper this time. Helpless, she edged just a little closer, and watched.

She was not prepared when Vegeta's eyes flew open.

"Wha… WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he croaked, springing to his feet. Ki flared up around him instantly, strong and fierce, shooting from his skin like a porcupine's quills. Fear gripped her hard. Limbs flailing, she flung herself back like a madwoman, eyes locked on the man ablaze before her.

Vegeta's normally latent power went on full display in that fleeting moment, reminding her why she'd feared him in the first place. He was practically godlike. The energy he exuded sizzled and crackled against the air, raw and suffocating. It danced and roiled and swirled around him, conforming to him, enveloping him, painting his whole body in an ethereal light so dazzling that for an instant the whole cave shone blue. It was magnificent, transcendental -

\- and deadly.

 _Dead. I'm dead. Dead, dead, dead._

But then, just like that, Vegeta came back to reality. The murderous expression faded from his face - as did the electrifying energy that cloaked him. "Wha…?" He looked around, slightly confused. "… I was... sleeping...?" His eyes found her and looked at her expectantly.

Bulma was on the opposite side of the cave's opening, several feet away from him, her back splayed against the wall. Her chest was heaving. A weak nod was all she could manage.

He growled, fists clenching. "How long?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but no sound came out. Vegeta glared at her, impatient.

"Woman!"

"A-A-An hour."

" _An hour_?"

"M-M-Maybe longer."

" _What_ _!"_ He looked a mixture of incredulous and livid. After what she had just gone through, it was not helping her calm down. "You've got to be kidding me. And it didn't occur to you to wake me up!?" he boomed. " _HUH?"_

A burst of indignance overpowered her fear. "S-Stop _yelling at me!_ " she blared back. Tears of frustration stung her eyes, but she fought them. "I didn't wake you up because I was afraid you'd react _exactly_ the way you just did!"

"Idiot!" he spat. "You do realize we were sitting ducks just now? If we had been in danger, I wouldn't have known it until it was too late! We could be dead right now! All because you were too _afraid_ to wake me!?"

" _How is any of this my fault_!" She pointed at him. "Maybe if you hadn't stuffed your fat face, then you wouldn't have nodded off! Besides, I thought you underwent special training so this kind of thing wouldn't happen, Mr. 'I'm an elite warrior - I don't need sleep!'" Her pitch dropped an octave as she attempted to mimic his deep voice, earning a sour look from the Saiyan. "It's not my fault you fell asleep, Vegeta! So stop blaming me and _STOP YELLING AT ME_!"

Vegeta didn't reply. Instead, he fumed. She squeaked with fear as he turned and hurled his fist into the wall behind him. Rock splintered and crumbled like drywall against his knuckles. He withdrew his unfazed hand and cast his gaze downwards, growling at himself once again. "This is unbelievable. How could I have let myself be so careless!"

Bulma watched him closely, her mouth sealed out of fear of upsetting him more. When it was looking like he was about to calm down, her shoulders began to relax. That is, until she noticed his gaze lock onto the capsule on the ground. Narrowed eyes snapped back up to her. Her fear flooded back tenfold. "Tell me... Why were you out here?" His tone was too calm for her liking. He took a step toward her. "What were you doing just now?"

Her chest constricted, and she hugged the wall a little tighter. "...Huh? W-Whaddyou mean...?"

 _"_ Don't toy with me!" he snarled, advancing on her. She shrank away uselessly. When he was right in front of her, he grabbed a fistful of her sweatshirt and tugged her toward him with enough force to give her whiplash. "You were in my face just now for a reason! What was it! I want an answer right now!" She was about to reply, but he cut her off. "You came out here to steal the dragon balls, didn't you?" he seethed, inches away from her. "Thought you could make a fool of me and run off?!"

"What? N-No I d-d-didn't...I-I wasn't..."

"Oh?" He tugged her a little closer, eyes narrowing. "Care to explain what you were doing then?"

She gulped, realizing she couldn't tell him the whole truth... "I-I-I came out to check on you! That's a-all! I-I swear!" His features blurred slightly as her eyes began to water. "I w-w-wasn't going to take the d-dragon balls. You have to b-believe me..."

"... And why should I do that?"

"B-Because. I-It's the truth. I...I promise... Vegeta... "

But he wouldn't leave it. He pressed his lips together, thinking. "If you were just 'checking on me,' then why were you so close to me?"

"Y-You were having a n-nightmare. About F-Frieza. I...I was worried..." She trailed off, sapped of the mental strength it would take to formulate what she wanted to say. She just hoped her answer was good enough.

For the next few moments, he searched her eyes intensely, assessing her truthfulness. All she could do was stare back. His proximity to her was disorienting. His breath was hot on her face, making her heart pound violently. The expression he held was so hard and angry and cruel - making her wonder if the softness she had seen moments earlier had even been there at all. She wanted that moment back. She wanted that side of Vegeta back.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he released her. Her knees gave way immediately and she slumped to ground.

His rage was gone as quickly as it had come. He looked down at her and scoffed. "Tch, quit your blubbering," he said in his normal, irritated tone. "I told you I wouldn't stand for any more crying. Wipe those damn tears from your eyes."

Dazed and shaken, she obliged, drying her face with her sleeve. She sat there for a long moment, replaying what had just happened in her head, wondering what the hell she was thinking, ever feeling sorry for this guy. He had been terrifying and out of line just now! She hadn't even done anything wrong! She had stuck around for this? The more she thought about it, the more her blood began to boil.

Vegeta had begun walking away when she climbed to her feet. "You... You _JERK_!" He paused at her outburst, turning to look at her. "Where do you get off manhandling me like that! Huh!? You're not even going to apologize?!"

His eyes twinkled with amusement. "Manhandle you?"

"Yeah, manhandle!"

"I barely touched you," he said, laughing. "Is that your weakling definition of 'manhandling'?"

"...'Weakling' definition...?" She ground her teeth and pointed to her neck. "You yanked me so hard it gave me whiplash, you creep! Where I come from, that's called _manhandling._ "

Vegeta snorted. "It's not my fault you're so weak."

"I'M NOT THAT WEAK!"

She wasn't sure why she said that. Heat of the moment, probably. She was just sick and tired of him berating her all the time! Of course she was weak. She knew that. Especially compared to Vegeta. But she wasn't going to back down now.

Vegeta blinked at her, then threw his head back and roared. The laugh startled her. She hadn't heard him laugh like that since the time she had told him Yamcha was her boyfriend. It echoed around her mockingly, only adding fuel to her fire.

" _Stop laughing at me_!"

"Sorry, I was taught it was polite to laugh when someone tells a joke." When she glared and said nothing, he crossed his arms and feigned surprise. "Oh, you were serious?" He roared again. "Please. I've squashed bugs with higher power levels than yours... But, since you're being serious, I'll tell you what..." The Saiyan squared his body to her. "...I'll humor you! Go ahead, _attack me_. Let's see what you're made of."

Bulma's nostrils flared. _Is he for real?_

"Here," he added, spreading his arms, leaving himself wide open, "I'll make it easy for you - I won't even move!"

She was absolutely seething. She could feel her anger boiling over, past the point of rational thinking.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" he goaded. He leaned forward slightly, gesturing to his cheek with one hand and beckoning her with the other, his smile widening. "Right here. As hard as you can. Don't hold back."

She saw red and lunged. The world seemed to stop as she felt her fist connect solidly with his cheek.

Bulma was not a fighter. Obviously. Actually, the only people she had ever punched were probably the poor aforementioned souls who dared waking her up from a deep sleep. And Master Roshi, of course, when he did pervy things. That said, this was probably the hardest punch she had ever thrown. She put every bit of force she had in to it and more.

But Vegeta didn't budge a muscle. It was as if she had punched a wall. The only thing she had succeeded in just now was injuring her own knuckles. Vegeta noticed her shocked expression and sneered against her fist.

"Wow, not bad," he said, patronizing her. "Just a tad harder and I might have felt something." Bulma's mouth fell agape. She was about to withdraw her fist, but Vegeta was too quick. He grabbed hold of her offending arm, pulling her forward until she was flush up against him. Her breath caught in her throat as she found herself once again staring straight into his eyes. Only this time, she vaguely noted, it wasn't fear she was feeling... He pulled her closer, until his cheek brushed against hers and his lips rested above her ear. Her heart thumped.

"Weakling."

The moment - or whatever the hell it was - instantly vanished. Bulma yanked herself out of his grasp and gave him another thwack on his breastplate before moving away with a snarl. "What is your deal, _huh_?! I don't get you! All I am is nice to you and you treat me like _dirt_!"

"Nice to me?" He looked at her wryly. "You just punched me in the face."

 _"Because you told me to!_ " she shouted, incredulous. She suppressed the urge to punch him again. "You are UNBELIEVABLE! I come outside to make sure you're okay, and what do I get? An angry, murderous Vegeta in my face! You could have at least apologized afterward! Said 'I'm sorry I overreacted, Bulma.' But NO!" She wrung her hands. "Ugh! I can't believe I stayed. I thought about leaving, you know! I thought about leaving, and I didn't. _But I should have!_ The risk of you finding me and ripping my limbs off would have been better than being stuck here another second with an ASSHOLE like you! You berate me, you threaten me, you _manhandle_ me. You can't even call me by my name! You're just... You're just the _worst_!"

There was a long pause as Vegeta watched her take her angered breaths. He looked bored. "Are you done yet?"

"YES, I'M DONE! RRUGH!"

With that, she threw her hands up, turning on her heel to stomp back to the house. She only made it a few steps, though, when all of a sudden the ground began to rumble violently beneath her feet. Her eyes bulged. She lost her footing almost immediately, falling on her butt. "W-What's happening?" Everything was shaking. This had happened not that long ago, too, before Vegeta had captured her. Bulma had assumed it was an earthquake. Bits of cave debris flurried down from above, causing her to instinctively curl into a ball and cover her head. "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh! What's going on! V-Vegeta?!" She peeked up. Vegeta was standing with his back to her, entirely calm, at the entrance of the cave.

"It's Frieza," he said over the rumbling. "He's firing ki blasts again."

She blinked. Dust was raining down around her. "Frieza's doing this? B-But it feels like the whole planet is shaking!" _Maybe this guy really_ is _that powerful._ Suddenly, the rumbling ceased. Uncertain, Bulma remained on the ground, peering around. "It... It stopped..." she said redundantly.

"For now," said Vegeta. He chuckled. "He'll do it again. The bastard is getting restless. I kind of destroyed his ship's main power core a while ago; I imagine he's not too happy about it."

Clearly, Vegeta was good at pissing people off. "Wait, so he's targeting you with those ki blasts?"

"Probably," he answered, as if it were no big deal. "Or he could just be blowing off some steam." He turned around to sit back down, looking slightly surprised when Bulma was sitting in his spot. He scowled down at her. "What're you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing! I'm sitting next to you in case it happens again! Which you just said it probably would!"

Vegeta gave a grunt of frustration. He seemed annoyed that she was worried about this. "Even if it does, we're hardly in any danger. Frieza is blind without his scouter. He's just firing wildly. The chance of him actually hitting us is slim to none."

"Yeah, well a slim chance is still a chance!" she said pointedly.

"Just two seconds ago, you were telling me how terrible I am. Now you're insisting on not leaving my side?"

He had a point. She had just about had a conniption a couple minutes ago. Because of him. "Hmph." She pouted defensively. "Yeah, well, that was before the whole planet felt like it was gonna fall apart!" Sensing that he was about to tell her to beat it, she wrapped her arms around her knees, grounding herself. "Look, Vegeta, I'm not going to sit in there by myself while an evil overlord is out there throwing a temper tantrum and shooting fireballs everywhere!" She lowered her voice slightly, adding, humbly, "I'm scared, okay? Just let me stay out here with you until it passes?"

He gave her a measuring look. Just when it looked like he was about to object, he grumbled. "Tch, fine. Whatever."

Bulma smiled with relief. She was still mad at him, and he was definitely a jerk. But she found it redeeming that he was agreeing to let her stay with him while she was scared. She liked to imagine that it was his way of apologizing - whether or not that was actually the case. He grabbed the capsule from the ground and tucked it back in his armor before sitting down.

A feeling of security spread through her as he settled himself next to her, about a foot away. The contradiction was running around her head again. How was it that his presence seemed so welcoming now? Hadn't she just been terrified of him just a few minutes ago? _What is going on with me_?

"What is that disgusting smell on you, by the way?"

His voice jarred her from her thoughts. Confused, she turned to blinked her big blue eyes at him. "Smell?"

He kept his gaze away from her, arms resting tensely in his lap. "Yes. You reek."

For a second, Bulma's first instinct was to be extremely insulted and embarrassed. Then it occurred to her. She looked down and grabbed at her sweatshirt. "Is... Is it my sweatshirt you're smelling?"

"I don't know, is it? Definitely smells like someone's sweat."

She deadpanned. "Sure you're not smelling yourself, Vegeta? You don't exactly smell like roses. When was the last time you showered, anyway?"

"No, I'm not 'smelling myself'!" he barked, whirling on her. He quickly turned away again, flustered.

Bulma pulled at her sweatshirt again, thinking out loud. "Hm, well, this is Yamcha's shirt. And I haven't washed it in a long time. Maybe you're smelling him, then."

"Tch. Well, it's disgusting," he huffed. "Must you sit so close to me with that odor?"

She looked at him curiously. "I could take it off, if it's bothering you that much?" she offered sincerely.

He shot her an almost nervous side glance. "That's not necessary."

"Ok, then," she said with a shrug.

The rumbling started again, sending Bulma nearly jumping out of her skin. Without thinking, she scrambled to the Saiyan, clinging firmly to his burly arm. She felt him jump a little at the unexpected contact.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, tone a mixture of surprise and disapproval.

"I-It's happening again!"

"Yes, clearly. What does my arm have to do with it?"

Bulma raised her nose at him sassily. "What's the matter? You're okay invading other people's personal space, but don't like it when someone invades yours?" The rumbling grew more powerful suddenly, prompting her to squeak and only grip him harder. "I'm scared! And this makes me feel better!"

Vegeta growled, squirming in her grasp. "You're scared of everything!" he remarked. "Let go of me!" He pushed at her and fidgeted. But his attempts to get her off him were totally half-assed, and a second later, he gave up with a grumble. Bulma couldn't help but smile again. She knew he could obviously push her off him with ease, which meant he was letting her hold him. _Maybe he does have a soft side, after all._

The vibrations continued, but Bulma didn't feel as frightened now that she had Vegeta's protection. She hadn't had this type of contact with him before. It felt... interesting. She adjusted her hands slightly, absently admiring the feeling of his muscles under her fingers. They were rock hard. She could feel herself flush slightly. _Is he flexing?_ she wondered. _He must be. No one's muscles are that hard while relaxed, right?_

The quaking stopped. She peeked up at Vegeta just as he started pushing at her again. "Okay, it's over! You can get off me now!" He pushed harder this time, but still gently for his standards. She acquiesced, letting go of his arm and scooching back over to give him some space. As she did, though, she noticed what she could have sworn was a pink tinge on his cheeks. She blinked. _Is... Is he blushing?_ she thought curiously, not daring to call him out.

He turned his head away quickly with a grunt, folding his arms over his chest. Bulma kept her gaze on him, wondering what she had done to make the Saiyan blush...

* * *

A/N: Oh, boy - between the delay in getting this chapter up and the lack of smut that I think people were expecting, I am fully expecting some angered reactions, haha. Please be nice! Believe me, as much as I was tempted to have Vegeta manhandle Bulma in a very different way (wink wink), the time just wasn't quite right. In due time, in due time... Hope to hear from you all, thanks!


	7. Chapter VI

A/N: Hey all, thanks to all of you continuing to read the story! And to all the reviewers - I cannot thank you enough. You guys are AWESOME! I honestly probably would not have written this much already without you guys! Your words are encouragement and support fill me with so much glee! (special special thanks to _The Jingo, Aztec Girl, emilym6280, hisuichanxx, Dulcet Shoujo,_ and the lovely _Guest_ who left reviews on the last chap! Ahhh you guys are so great!)

And lastly, an overdue thanks to _The Jingo_ for adding me to my first community - yay! Thank you thank you.

This is another longish chapter. I'm pretty happy with it - so I hope you enjoy! Happy reading!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

* * *

CHAPTER VI

* * *

"Man, my neck! You didn't need to be so rough, you jerk!"

The woman let out a long groan beside him. Though her griping was annoying, Vegeta was too preoccupied with pummeling himself mentally to take much notice. He stared off, arms folded over his chest, his teeth grinding.

He still couldn't believe he had let his guard down like that! Falling asleep? Really? The stakes were literally the highest they had ever been and would ever be. It was all or nothing, at this point - _everything_ was on the line. His revenge, his honor, his destiny, his _life_. There was no room for mistakes. And yet, here he'd been, practically _comatose_ \- for an _hour_ or possibly more, according to the woman. It may not have seemed like much time, but it was when he considered all the things that could have happened in that hour: new scouters could have arrived and led Frieza straight to him; Kakarot, the self-righteous, third class buffoon, could have landed and sensed him out; the meddling Earth runts could have returned from wherever the hell they were. All while he was out cold, defenseless as a lamb.

And as if that weren't already bad enough, on top of that he had left the damn capsule out in the open, unguarded. What the actual fuck? He might as well have plastered a sign above his head saying 'I quit, you can have them.' It was infuriating! Inexcusable! If the girl weren't there with him, he probably would have blown the whole cave to bits out of sheer fury with himself. He wished he could blame that mistake on fatigue. But that was just sheer carelessness. And Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans, a polished warrior and expert tactician, was not _careless._ Even when exhausted, he was always vigilant, always fastidious. That's the way he had always been.

The woman was droning on about something, but Vegeta continued to tune it out. He needed to get to the bottom of this. In his mind, he began replaying the minutes leading up to when he had dozed off. At some point after coming outside and finishing his meal, he could recall taking the capsule out just to fiddle with it mindlessly. But he had absolutely no memory of setting it down next to him after that.

What was going on with him? Where was his focus! Vexed, he delved deeper. He backtracked his thoughts, trying to recall what the hell he could have been thinking about that he would so absentmindedly forget to tuck the capsule back in his armor. He inhaled sharply when he finally realized. _The girl._ He had been thinking about the girl. Or rather, had been trying to _not_ think about her.

The human was a distraction, there was no more denying it. It was becoming a problem. The fighter wasn't used to sharing close quarters with someone for this long. There was Nappa, but, obviously, that dynamic had been completely different. Nappa had been his subordinate and colleage. Their relationship had been predictable and professional, and they had really only conversed with each other as it related to a mission or purge. This, though. This was totally different. His hostage was a _woman,_ and an extremely attractive one at that. Their interactions were unpredictable and completely alien to him, and almost never related to the specific circumstances at hand. Hell, they often didn't relate to anything at all. Most of the time it was nothing but meaningless bickering.

And yet, it had been distracting enough for him to let his guard down completely.

While it made his stomach turn to think of Frieza finding him in such a vulnerable and humiliating state, Vegeta took some solace in knowing that the bastard would have most likely overlooked the capsule, not knowing what it was. The Earthlings, though, were a different story. Had they returned while he was sleeping, they and the woman could have taken the capsule from right under his nose.

Then again, the woman alone could have taken it from right under his nose...

Vegeta found her explanation to him shoddy at best. She saw he was having a nightmare, so she felt compelled to get up right in his face? Logically it just didn't check out. Surely, she must have tiptoeing up to him to steal the dragon balls. And yet, she had maintained vehemently that that wasn't her intention. And the weirdest part was that he actually _believed_ her. It boggled his mind. He had absolutely no reason to trust her, and she had no reason to tell him the truth. Yet, when he had held her there, staring into her face, something in her eyes and her voice had convinced him that she was being honest.

 _"I thought about leaving, you know! I thought about leaving, and I didn't_. _"_

What was that about, he wondered?

The woman whimpered again, this time loudly enough to draw Vegeta from his thoughts. He turned to see she was massaging her hand. "My knuckles hurt, too!" she complained. "Geez, Vegeta. Seriously, are you made of steel or something? I might need ice... "

"Go get ice then!" he barked finally, annoyed. "I'm tired of your whining. Why are you still out here anyway?" She turned to meet his gaze, blinking at him innocently. Her eyes often looked at him like that. Bright and innocent and soft. So _expressive_. It puzzled him. If anyone needed to be on guard all the time, it was her, the weak thing that she was. And yet, she shamelessly wore her heart on her sleeve. _How foolish._ She kept staring at him. Uncomfortable, Vegeta broke eye contact and looked straight ahead instead. "I think it's safe to say Frieza is done blowing things up for the time being. Which means you can leave now."

"Mmm, I'm not convinced," she disagreed. "Just a little longer."

He growled at that. "It's been nearly half an hour already. How much longer do you need?" He thought back to their earlier deal and glared at her. "What happened to this being a 'win-win' for me, huh?"

"Hm?"

"The whole point of moving to this cave was so you could stay in that house of yours and leave me alone," he reminded her. "Instead, here we are, and you're _still_ complaining in my ear. I'm starting to think your grand plan is to annoy me to death."

"Oh, don't be dramatic, Vegeta," she said sweetly. There was an almost knowing glint in her eyes. "Let's be real, we both know you could have dragged me back inside by now if you hated my company that much."

Vegeta hated to admit it, but she was right. He could have. He could have done many things to her by now. Truth be told, he hadn't been nearly as cruel to her these past couple days as he could have been - as he _should_ have been.

The Saiyan couldn't think of anything appealing about her company. The girl was loud, whiny, obnoxious - not to mention shockingly insolent and mouthy most of the time. Her audacity, along with his willingness to put up with it, continually baffled him. He had killed people for far less, yet for some reason he was tolerating it from her. The disturbing thought occurred to him that maybe she was right. Perhaps he didn't hate being around her that much. What else could possibly explain why he hadn't welded her mouth shut by now? Maybe, he even kind of _liked_ the company.

He suppressed a shudder.

Afraid she would sense his inner conflict, Vegeta rebutted quickly. "Hmph. Then I'd have to listen to you complain about how I'm 'manhandling' you."

He didn't expect her smile at that. Her whole face lit up, intensifying that uncomfortable sensation inside him. "That's true," she admitted, shrugging. "I guess it's a catch 22 for you, then." After a minute, she picked up a small rock and began trailing patterns mindlessly in the dirt. "So, Frieza can't sense energy like you and the others can, huh?"

He grunted and looked away, glad she was changing the subject. "No, he can't. It's not a common ability."

"Well, that's a relief, right?"

 _Though,_ _I'm sure those new scouters will get here soon. Which means time is running out..._

A jolt of anxiety shot through him.

Vegeta was growing dangerously impatient. Securing the last dragon ball had brought with it a rush of endorphins initially, and waiting around had seemed like no big deal. But now, two days later, with the knowledge that new scouters would be arriving soon, Frieza a stone's throw away, Kakarot on his way to Namek, and the Earthlings still not there, the stress was rising, and it was getting harder to keep his cool.

He didn't understand what could possibly be taking the Earthlings so long to return, and he found it unsettling that he still couldn't sense them, even after all this time. They were probably still suppressing their ki, perhaps unaware that their woman friend was with him. That, or...

His eyes snapped to her, the words coming out harshly. "Didn't your friends tell you when they would be back before they left?"

The girl's blue eyes ignited. "Hmph! Funny you should ask. As a matter of fact, they didn't! Every time they left me, it was always 'Don't worry, Bulma, we'll be right back.' Right back, my ass. I told them repeatedly not to leave me all by myself, but did they listen to me? NO! And just look what happened!" She threw the little rock angrily across the cave. It rang as it skidded along the ground. "Those jerks have some nerve. This is all their fault! Just wait til I get my hands on them - I'm gonna kill'em!"

An image of her pummeling the Earth runts immediately popped into his head. Laughter burst from him before he could stop it. "That I'd like to see," he guffawed, his stress immediately forgotten. "And how do you plan to do that exactly with those girly punches of yours?"

She glowered. "Yeah, my punches are girly - so what? I don't fight! Excuse me if some of us aspire to being more than just brainless muscleheads!" Lips pursing, she leaned back. It looked like she was actually contemplating this idea. "The gun I brought might do nicely."

Vegeta smirked, finding he rather enjoyed this violent side to her. "I thought these were friends of yours?"

"Yeah, well. What kind of friends leave a defenseless girl all by herself on an alien planet for days on end, huh? I swear, they can be so stupid. They're lucky to have someone like me to make up for their lack of brains. I mean honestly, the dweebs thought it was a good idea to leave _me_ with the dragon ball? The dragon ball that a bunch of _superpowered_ aliens want?" She shook her head helplessly. "But anyway, _no_ , I have no idea when they'll be back. Or why they're taking so long..." She paused. Vegeta could almost see the thought process happening behind those expressive eyes of hers. Concern flitted across her face. "You... You don't think something happened to them, do you? Can you sense them?"

He grunted. "Believe me, I'd be immortal by now if I could." Looking away, he reluctantly added, "Either they're masking their energy - or someone got to them."

She stared off and let out a little gasp. Her voice was small and hushed. "Krillin… Gohan…"

The feeling of dread quickly returned. The Earthlings' death meant no password. No password meant no wish. And no wish meant game over for the Saiyan Prince. His fingers dug into his arms, his whole body tensing at the prospect. "I swear," he snarled to himself, "those twerps better not have gone and gotten themselves killed, or I am going to be _really_ fucking pissed."

His temper began to flare, but the girl's gaze on him pulled him back down. When he turned to look at her, her eyes were filled with an emotion he couldn't read. Was it sadness? Fear maybe? She opened her mouth as if to say something, but hesitated.

"What is it."

The look in her eyes only intesified. She bit her lip, hesitated again, then finally she said, "... If... If something did happen to them... What would that mean for me?"

Before he even had time to consider her question, a near deafening boom sounded outside, immediately ending the conversation. Vegeta winced as the woman shrieked, unsurprised this time when he felt her wrap herself around his arm. She clung to him like glue as the ground rocked beneath them. "W-WHAT WAS THAT? WHAT'S HAPPENING!"

Vegeta didn't answer her, though he knew exactly what it was. Pulling himself from her (surprisingly) tight grasp, he made his way outside just in time to catch the tail end of an explosion in the distance. It blazed on the southern horizon like a beacon of destruction - a monstrous, pulsing dome of yellow, swallowing up a swath of plateaus and land and trees. Even in the daylight its energy was brilliant. Its light strobed far across the landscape, illuminating the Saiyan's stony face as he watched.

The woman's voice came from somewhere close behind him, laden with fear. "Is... Is that Frieza's blast?"

"It is."

There was a pause before her tone turned angry. "Hmph. He's 'done blowing things up,' huh? See?! I was right! Again! Why don't people ever listen to me!" He was silent. The quaking was dying down, the dome of light now nothing more than a plume of black and dusty rubble. Then a realization hit her. "Hey, w-wait a minute..." she stuttered, horrified. "I-Isn't that right around where our last hideout was?"

"Looks like it," he said, still stoic.

She did not like his answer. "...'Looks like it'?" she echoed tartly, voice rising. "That's all you have to say!?"

"Hmph. And what would you like me to say?"

"I don't know, but I think it's weird you're so calm about it! Seriously, Vegeta. We nearly get blown to bits, and you just stand there like we watched some really boring fireworks!"

Vegeta said nothing. Perhaps he should have been more concerned about how close the blast came to them, but in an odd way, the explosions brought him a sense of relief. Each blast was reassurance that the new scouters had not arrived yet, and that there was still time to make his wish. He turned around and walked back toward the hideout, ignoring her glare as he passed her.

"What's wrong with you! We were right there!" she called after him. "That could have been us in that blast!"

"Yeah, well, it wasn't." The answer was simple, with a finality that ended the matter. "Now come on. Back to the cave."

After a second, he realized somewhat unsurprisingly that she was not obeying his order. The Saiyan stopped and threw her a glance over his shoulder. She hadn't moved from where she stood. Instead, still facing the horizon, she had sunk to the ground in a w position, looking utterly defeated. "I'll... be there in just a minute," she said wearily, seeming to sense his gaze on her. "After I take a long hard look at my life..."

Vegeta scoffed and dismissed her with a wave, returning to his spot in the cave. With his eyes on the girl's figure outside, he sat back down and leaned his head against the wall. _What a weak creature._ He couldn't fully wrap his mind around it. He had never bothered or cared to wonder what it might be like to be as weak as her. There was no point to it. The time he spent with such weak creatures was always short-lived, lasting as long as it took to kill them, and then move on. It went without saying, he had never spent this much time with such a feeble being, and it was bemusing to him how differently she saw the world. Things that he wouldn't think twice about were frightening for her. It annoyed him to no end, but it made sense. Her physical strength was pathetic. He hadn't even felt her punch to his face earlier, even though he could tell she'd poured all her strength into it. You'd think she could at least _flee,_ but she couldn't even do that effectively. The girl couldn't even fly. She was confined to ground, only able to flee from danger as fast as her laughably slow feet might carry her.

His eyes closed as her question swam back to him.

 _"If... If something did happen to them... What would that mean for me?"_

He huffed. _Your death, of course._ The question was ridiculous. Vegeta had no reason to keep a weakling such as her around after all this. Honestly, he was beginning to question what reason he had not to just kill her now. Did he really even need her for his plan? On the one hand, he was certain the Earthlings would give him the password in a heartbeat if it meant preventing her torturous death. But on the other hand, Vegeta knew he could also kill the girl now and just torture the password out of the brats when they returned. It would take longer, maybe, but the Saiyan had never failed at making people talk.

He just wasn't sure anymore that keeping the girl alive was worth all the trouble it was clearly causing him. He had already let his guard down _twice_ since capturing her. The woman was distracting him, throwing off his focus when he needed it most. Killing her now would solve that problem easily.

And yet, here he was, _not_ killing her, instead just continuing to tolerate her nonsense.

Vegeta surfaced from his thoughts. A couple minutes had passed, and the girl was still not back. The planet had once again quieted down, save for the distant commotion of frightened animals. _What is that blasted woman doing out there?_ Eyes still closed, he turned his head to call out for her.

And then her ki spiked.

" _VEGETAAAA!_ "

Her scream was bowel-curdling. It ripped through him like a shockwave, making his stomach leap all the way to his throat. His eyes flashed open and he was on his feet outside the cave in an instant.

He spotted her immediately. High overhead, a pterodactyl had her by the belly in one of its talons and was flying away. Bulma was flailing wildly to no avail, screaming her lungs out, naturally. Fists clenched, Vegeta roared a string of curses. For a moment, he just watched it take her away, faltering as the phrase _Just_ _let the damn thing take her_ ran repeatedly through his mind. Then he screamed _"Fuck!"_ and his thoughts shut off completely as instinct took over. He took aim and fired. The ki beam streaked through the sky, swift as an arrow, striking its target in the back with deadly precision. The dinosaur gave an agonized squawk, stalling briefly before plunging headlong toward the ground. It released Bulma in the process, and she plummeted behind it, flipping and turning and howling. No more than a couple seconds after her descent began, Vegeta swooped through and caught her in his arms, the action ending her scream with an _"oof!"_. He was already on his way back to the cave by the time the animal crashed below them. It hit the ground with a thundering boom.

"Ve...Vegeta," Bulma murmured against him.

Relief. He was actually feeling relief. What the hell? Vegeta shook the thought off and unleashed on her immediately.

"You've got to be joking!" he said furiously, voice muffled in the wind. "I can't leave you alone for two seconds without something trying to kill you. I am a warrior, not a fucking babysitter!" He veered them downwards as he spoke, prompting her hands to wrap around his neck. "It's no wonder your friends left you - you're useless! Grraghh! What a pain in my ass! I should have let the bird take you!"

He expected some witty response or fiery defense from her, but none came. He glanced down. She was staring up at him, wide-eyed and dazed, her expression a blend of horror and relief. As hard as he tried to hold on to the anger, he could feel it melting away. He looked back up, his grip on her unconsciously tightening.

He powered down just outside the cave's entrance. The moment he landed, he loosened his grasp and the woman slid down, her feet planting softly and somewhat feebly on the ground. Vegeta was still fuming a little. He was about to scold her again, but stopped short when, instead of pulling away, Bulma twisted her body to look into his face, her arms still around his neck. His mind blanked. _What...What is she doing...?_ She was staring at him intensely, her face inches from his own, eyes holding some foreign expression. Her hands brushed lightly along his neck as she slid them down to rest on his chest, the feathery feeling on his skin sending a shiver straight down his spine. His pulse quickened. Instantly the memory of her fingers running down his arm flashed through his mind. Her touch so light and gentle it had made every hair on his body stand on end.

Neither of them moved. Time was slowing to a standstill, and suddenly it felt too hot. Was it always this hot here? The sun's rays were piercing his skin and swarming through him, making him almost dizzy. Her proximity to him felt stifling. He didn't understand; he had been this close to her before. But now there something balmy and almost electric hovering between them, something magnetizing and palpable, something out of his control. Her eyes shone at him like burnished gems in the sun, holding a probing intensity that bordered on hypnotic. It began to feel like everything around them was falling away. The longer he stared into them, the more intense the pull became. Like they were drawing him in. Closer and closer...

The smell of blood knocked Vegeta from his trance. As if on cue, an intense pain flashed across the girl's face. She cried out and wrenched herself from his grasp.

She doubled over slightly. "Some... something's wrong," she grunted, starting to tremble. "I-I think I'm... hurt." She staggered back several steps before fumbling to lift her sweatshirt.

Underneath lay a mess of red. Her once white tank was soaked with blood from her waist almost to her chest, and in the middle across her stomach, glaring through a tear in the cloth, was a long and angry slash.

The Earthling gaped down at the injury, mortified. "I'm... I'm b-bleeding," she exclaimed with horror. A second later, another wave of pain washed over her. She curled and winced again, her hand twisting to find her backside. "My... my back. I-I think there's one on my back, too. But... I..."

"The talon must have torn you as you fell," Vegeta interjected, coolheadedly putting the pieces together for her. "The adrenaline kept you from noticing right away."

She was white as ghost, clearly at a loss. Arms crossed, Vegeta regarded her stolidly. His mind shifted modes quickly. Eyes locked on her belly, he motioned her to him. "Come here," he said, voice stern but calm. But the girl just gawked at him as though she hadn't heard. He frowned. "Come here!"

The authority in his voice the second time snapped her out of her stupor, and Vegeta removed his gloves as she wobbled over to him. "Take off that stupid sweater and lift up your shirt." Without a word, she did as she was told, pulling the sweatshirt over her head and dropping it to the ground. Under different circumstances, he would have cracked a joke about how she was finally obeying him for once. But he remained stern, too focused on the injury at hand. She lifted her tank up to reveal her belly. Her blood glistened garishly in the sunshine, stark red against her milky white skin. Bending down, Vegeta scanned the wound clinically. It was an ugly thing; it gaped open - not too badly but badly enough - sneering at him like a crooked smile, its edges jagged and rough, with small streams of blood trickling from the corners. He spun her around. There were two more slashes, less severe, stacked just above the small of her back.

Vegeta was used to much worse, and his first sense was that this wasn't as bad as it looked. That said, she was just a human. He had no idea how durable she was or how much damage a creature like her could sustain. A flesh wound like this was nothing to him, but for all he knew, it could be fatal for someone like her. _Hmph,_ _like I care._

But the notion actually made him feel a little anxious.

Eyes still on the wound, he broke the silence bluntly. "If you have a first aid kit in that house of yours, now would be the time to get it."

It took her a second to register the suggestion. Trembling, she sucked in a breath and nodded, grunting, "...Y-Yeah. Right. _D-Duh_... first aid kit..." Aside from the obvious pain she was in, she was oddly calm. He doubted - as sheltered as she was - that she had ever had an injury like this. No doubt she was shell-shocked. The Saiyan eyed her warily as she began lumbering to the house. He stayed close behind, lighting her way, half-ready to catch her in case she tripped. As she entered, he stopped in the doorway and folded his arms. Dark, impassive eyes watched as she moved clumsily through the main room to her container of capsules on the floor.

"O-Okay," she breathed, trying to keep herself together, "here it is." Grimacing, she took a capsule out threw it on the floor, picking up the first aid kit once the puff of smoke cleared. She placed it on the kitchen table then paused, as though her mind had blanked.

"You need to compress the wounds," he prompted her from the doorway.

"R-Right... Right..." She peered around for a moment, whimpering, thinking, then headed to the closet. "Towels. Gotta... get towels."

When she set the towels on the table, she paused again, this time thoughtfully. He watched her stumble around the kitchen for a minute or two, rummaging through lower cupboards and drawers as she muttered obscenities. When she resurfaced she had a pill bottle in one hand and a glass flask of liquid in the other.

He quirked an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"Whaddyou think!" she snapped, whirling on him. "It _hurts!_ This'll take the edge off a little! Is that okay with you, _your Majesty_?" With a huff and a groan, she redirected her focus to the pill bottle, mumbling to herself as she clumsily unscrewed the cap. "N-Now let's see... One painkiller, or two?" She winced. "Definitely two. 'Do not take with alcohol,' it says. Pfft, yeah, whatever. Desperate times call for" - she winced again - "desperate measures. A little vodka never hurt nobody." She fumbled the pills into her mouth and washed them down with a gulp of liquid. Afterwards, she dropped the pill bottle but kept the flask with her, seating herself shakily at the table. She lifted her tank back up and hunched over, squeezing a towel to her stomach with her eyes clenched shut.

When she opened her eyes, Vegeta was towering over her, one of the towels in his hand. "Turn around."

"... W-What?"

"You won't be able to compress both sides at the same time. You compress the wound on your belly and I'll compress the ones on your back." She looked nonplussed. His scowl deepened. He was not feeling patient. Especially when he wasn't even sure why he was helping her to begin with. "What are you gaping at! Do you want help or not? I'm not going to stand here all day."

With a hazy nod, she turned around in the seat. Vegeta crouched down and pressed the cloth into her back. She flinched.

"Thanks... Vegeta..."

"Just shut up."

He watched the white towel slowly turn red as the minutes passed by. It was the most quiet he had ever heard her. Nothing but the sound of her pained breaths and periodic whimpers - which were annoying, but tolerable. A clock was ticking somewhere nearby. Occasionally, he heard the sloshing of the flask as she took a swig of 'vodka.'

After a short while, the bleeding on her back had slowed down substantially. "How is the bleeding on that side?" he asked, tossing his bloody towel aside. He leaned and swiped the first aid kit from the table.

The pills and alcohol had kicked in, and her words slurred when she answered. "I... think it's pretty much done bleeding."

He fetched water and then got back down on his knees to begin irrigating the slashes on her back. "It's as I thought, then," he said, nodding to himself. "They may look nasty, but the wounds are largely superficial. Nothing emergently threatening."

It was supposed to be good news. But her response was a sniffle. "These are going to scar, aren't they?"

 _Is she serious? What a moronic question._ He scoffed. "I thought you were a genius?" he lofted snidely, but softened his tone slightly when she sniffled again. "Of course they'll scar."

The sniffling immediately turned into weeping, causing Vegeta to pause and tense.

He growled over her tears. " _What is it."_

"I'll never be able to wear a bikini again!"

"A _what_?"

Her head snapped to the side. "It's a swimsuit, you dummy! Ugh, _nevermind_." She gave a resigning groan and looked forward again, her shoulders slouching in defeat. "If I do ever see Yamcha again, there's no way he'll want me now - all scarred and disfigured. He'll break up with me for sure."

 _Disfigured_? Vegeta shook his head and almost laughed. What a sheltered creature. If she had seen even a fraction of the things he had, she would never be able to sleep again. He had seen _real_ disfigurement - some of the worst being during his own purges. People's flesh melting right off their bones, limbs hanging from sockets, blood spraying from every orifice imaginable, entrails spilling from bodies, the list went on and on. And this girl thought a couple measly scars counted as disfigurement? Were all humans this vain? No wonder they were so weak. They were too worried about 'bikinis' and 'dates' and other stupid things that didn't matter. And besides, why would this _Yamcha_ of all people give a flying fuck about a few scars on her?

"Hmph, the bozo has scars on his face, doesn't he?"

"...Yeah."

"So why should he care if you have scars, then?"

Bulma sniffled, her tears dying down. "Yeah, I guess..." She flinched as he pressed the bandages firmly on to her back. "How are you so good at this, Vegeta?"

"A lot of practice," he replied gruffly. "Turn back around."

Setting the flask on the table, she obliged and rotated to face him, her movements slow and uncoordinated. Pain still etched her face, but to a much lesser degree now. Even with the acrid smell of blood in the air, the sweet scent he'd smelled on her earlier managed to work its way into his lungs, making his chest feel warm. Their eyes caught for an instant and Vegeta couldn't help but think to himself how attractive she was, even in this light.

He broke eye contact quickly, scolding himself. He didn't need a repeat of earlier - whatever the hell that had been. _Focus._ "Lean back," he said. She obeyed with a grimace, bracing her arms against the seat behind her as she angled herself backwards. Vegeta scooted forward on his knees, settling himself between her legs, and leaned over her to work on the remaining tear. As he cleaned it, he did his best to keep his eyes from straying to her face. It was easier said than done. He caught his eyes drifting several times, not just to her face, but to other parts of her body, as well. It didn't especially help when he was this close to her, in between her legs, hovering over her...

To Vegeta's dismay, she started talking again. Her words were starting to come out quite lazily. "I told you I once wanted the dragon balls to wish for the perfect boyfriend, right?"

He grunted. "Yes, several times. That, and strawberries, and fucking panties." The things these Earthlings wasted their wishes on infuriated him.

"No, no. The panties were Oolong. That pig. And I don't just mean figuratively. I mean he's literally a _pig_..."

"Whatever," he cut her off, dismissive, "I do not need to hear you babble on about it again."

"Well," she went on, ignoring him, "it doesn't matter anymore obviously, 'cause Yamcha and me hit it off. Sometimes I wonder, though. If I had made my wish, who would the dragon have given me?" Vegeta didn't see any value in such useless hypotheticals, so he didn't answer. But that didn't stop her from going on. "I suppose it probably would have been Yamcha," she sighed. "He is pretty perfect. So sweet and kind and handsome. He may have wandering eyes sometimes, but I know, deep down, he's loyal to me."

 _I think I'm going to puke._ "What about that stupid Becky person."

"Huh?"

Still focusing on her wound, Vegeta grumbled, clarifying, "The girl he 'went on a date with.'"

"Oh yeah..." She paused. " _Hmph!_ Becky! That bimbo. I almost forgot about her." Another silence. He could feel the weight of her gaze on him, and unthinkingly he paused to look up. The discomfort in her face was virtually gone; she regarded him almost sleepily now. "Wow, you really are a good listener, Vegeta," she slurred at him with a smile. "Who'd a thought?"

Not having any idea how to reply to that, Vegeta settled with a "hmph," averting his gaze as he went back to treating her injury.

"You know, you should think about abandoning this whole supreme ruler of the universe thing and come hang out on Earth after you kill Frieza. I think you'd like it there if you gave it a chance. You could make some friends, chill out, maybe even settle down. I bet you'd make some girl pretty happy."

She was spewing nonsense now. Clearly she'd had too much to drink. He snorted. "What a ridiculous notion."

He had just finished securing the last bandage and looked up when she wagged her eyebrows at him and said, "Wanna know a secret?"

He crinkled his nose, not knowing how else to react to her weird behavior. His response was wry. "No. But let me guess, you're going to tell me anyway."

She broke out in a slow grin and nodded, wincing as she pulled herself back up to a fully seated position. The action caught him off guard, and he had to lean back quickly to avoid her body coming into contact with his. She hung her head slightly and her blue locks dangled down, partially covering his view of her face.

"I didn't tell you the whole truth before. About why I was so close to you when you woke up."

The words instantly made him bristle, and his voice came out dangerously low. "What?"

She had been lying, after all. The bitch was about to confess to trying to steal his dragon balls.

The feeling of betrayal began to tighten in his stomach. It was a familiar feeling, albeit one he hadn't felt in a very long time. Early on in his life, he had learned that betrayal stung much less when he just stopped trusting people in the first place. And so that's what he did. After that, deception had been nothing, because he expected it. But that was what was so angering right now. Not that that she had lied, but that he had _believed_ her. He had actually been foolish enough to _believe_ her bullshit about him having a nightmare or whatever it was. That was why his stomach was churning. Because he had _trusted_ her. How could he have been so stupid? And to think he had shown her any kindness just now!

She continued heedlessly, unaware that she was signing her own death warrant. "You _were_ having a nightmare," she reiterated drowsily. "But that's not the only reason why... Wanna know why?"

His fists were clenching, just itching to rip her throat out the moment she admitted it. "Tell me why," he dared her, teeth bared.

"I was admiring how handsome you are."

His eyes bugged.

 _What the fuck._

Not having a clue what to do with that, Vegeta stood stunned, staring at her with his mouth agape.

Bulma, too tired now to even make eye contact, didn't notice his reaction. She blinked slowly and went on. "That's why I said you should come to Earth. Lots of pretty girls, Vegeta. You could take your pick, a cute guy like you."

Vegeta was so flustered, he could hardly think. Desperate to veer his mind away from her bombshell confession, he scrambled for something to say. "Tch, _cute_?" His voice came out hoarse. "I am not _cute_. I am a cold and ruthless warrior - "

"Yeah, you act tough," she interjected. "But you can't be all bad. If you were, why would you be helping me right now?"

He didn't know why he was helping her. Hadn't he just been thinking of getting rid of her? _What the fuck is wrong with me?_ He hated even more that she was asking - putting him on the spot like that. How dare she! For a split second, he actually had to suppress the instinctual urge to blast her, just to make this awkward feeling go away. And then to his dismay she just _continued_ _._

"You're being pretty nice to me, Vegeta. I mean, let's face it, I'm pretty defenseless against you." She lifted her bruised knuckles at him as evidence and smiled. "You could do anything you wanted to me, really..."

 _I could_ , his mind agreed. Vegeta felt his face flush as an array of images flashed unbidden through his head, and it took everything he had not to pull her to him right there, wounds be damned. But he refrained. For reasons he didn't understand he had already told himself he wouldn't force her. And once Vegeta made a decision, he stuck to it. He prided himself on his self-possession, and self-possessed he would be.

That said, he was not sure how much more of this he could take.

"...Who'd a thought you'd be a sort of a gentleman. I sure didn't. But the kindness suits you."

Thoroughly ruffled, Vegeta said nothing, opting to grunt and grumble instead. Finally, after a moment, he snapped his head away in an attempt to collect himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly out his nose.

His thoughts were swimming. Her bizarre confession aside - which he could digest later - a strange but immense sense of relief flooded through him to know she had been telling him the truth after all. That his intuitive decision to take her word had not been in vain.

Her earlier words echoed through his mind again.

 _"I thought about leaving, you know! I thought about leaving, and I didn't._ "

Vegeta opened his eyes and looked at her. She was starting to fall asleep. But first, he needed to know. "Why didn't you leave?"

She raised her head a little at his voice. "Hn?"

"Before, when I was asleep. Why didn't you take the dragon balls and escape? I've only just learned how to sense energies. I haven't mastered it, yet." What was he doing, sharing his weakness with her? You didn't just share that kind of information with the enemy! But to his surprise, words just kept coming out of his mouth. "I probably wouldn't have been able to find you if you'd left," he said, the admission feeling heavy. "You could have gotten away with it."

He lost his patience when she didn't respond. "Look at me!" he barked.

The girl started. Her eyes opened a bit as she raised her head to meet his gaze.

"Why didn't you leave?" he asked again.

She attempted a shrug and said simply, "You just seem like you could use someone you can trust."

His face darkened, and the answer came quickly, almost instinctively. "I don't trust anyone."

"I know," she said, almost sadly. For the first time in several minutes, she looked at him fully. "Who could blame you? Your own father gave you away to a psychotic monster. Why would he do that? Why would a father do that?"

He couldn't tell if it was a trick of the light, her intoxication, or something else, but her eyes almost looked watery. Those weren't tears _for him_ , were they? All of this was just getting weirder and weirder. They couldn't possibly be - that would be preposterous. She had no reason to shed tears for him. He was a ruthless and unrepentant murderer. He had killed who knows how many innocent people. Millions? Billions? Women, men, children. All without blinking an eye. Once he became immortal and killed Frieza - if she wasn't dead already - he would go to Earth and kill her, too...

… right?

He was about to scold her for pitying him when she hung her head and spoke again. "And to tell you the truth I was also afraid what you would do to me if you did catch me." She raised a half pointed finger. "I know what I said before but it's not true. You may be a jerk, but being stuck here with you beats having my limbs ripped off any... day..." The tail end of her sentence trailed off and slurred almost incoherently, and it was then he knew this conversation was over. He started to stand, but as he did, Bulma's body gave way, falling forward into his chest. Eyes wide, Vegeta dropped back down and froze, startled by the sudden contact. Her forehead had landed against his collarbone, and with a little moan she turned, her nose brushing against his skin as she rested her head in the crook of his neck.

Her breath was hot on his skin as she mumbled, "You wouldn't really kill me, would you, Vegeta?" The Saiyan remained still, too distracted by the warmth of her body against his to think straight. "Please don't..."

"Hmph." With reluctance, he pulled her off him gently, deliberately dodging her question. "We're done here. You should..." But she was already asleep, he saw. With an exhale, Vegeta released her, letting the girl's body fall back on to the seat.

He stood to leave, but only took a few steps toward the door before he stopped. He turned and looked at her, hesitating. After a moment of deliberation, he approached her once more, pulling her off the seat and scooping her fragile form up into his arms, absently shocked by how soft her skin felt in his bare and calloused hands. Her head rested against his chest, and her limp arms swayed as he started for the bedroom. Halfway there, he heard her murmur, "Yam... cha..." Immediately he scowled. Yamcha, Yamcha, Yamcha. He was sick of hearing about that weakling. He felt an intense and particular distaste for the human the more she talked about him. _What does she see in that clown?_ The Saiyan caught himself half thinking that maybe he _would_ let the Earthlings wish him back, just so that he could kill him all over again, this time with his own hands.

Once in the room, Vegeta set her on the bed. Her head hit the pillow and turned sideways, the soft blue strands of hair falling over her now peaceful face. Her tank had fallen back down over her wound, and absently the Saiyan thought how he should just take the top off since it was soiled anyway. He began lifting it up, but got to her breasts and stopped. He hesitated, jaw clenching, then with a shake of his head left the shirt where it was.

As he began pulling away, Bulma's voice stopped him. "...Vege...ta...?" His eyes glanced up, surprised to see she was still sleeping. He blinked when it clicked. _She's dreaming... about_ _me...?_ But then another thought occurred, and he grimaced. _Wait, just a minute ago she said 'Yamcha.'_ What in the hell kind of a dream was she having?

With a huff, Vegeta turned to leave, his mind buzzing. He stopped in the doorway to look at her one last time. _Stupid Earthling._

He turned out lights and left her in peace.

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A/N: Seems both Vegeta and Bulma are wrestling with some feelings. What will happen? Stay tuned... Oh and please read and review! Thank you thank you!


	8. Chapter VII

A/N: Hey all - hope you're all well! As always, thank you thank you to all the readers out there, and to the people following and favoriting the story! HUGE and special thanks to all the reviewers on the last chapter! I'm so happy you enjoyed it! THANK YOU to _That Same Guest (_ I did take your advice ; _) ), Aztec Girl_ (thank you so much for all your reviews - it means so much :3 ), _doratucker12_ (gahh, sorry to make you wait!), _hisuichanxx_ (Haha, man, thank you! What a compliment :D ), _xSapphirexRosesxFanx_ (oh, you know it!), _Guest_ (thanks for your review! I think Vegeta can be caring, but he just shows it in a very different way, so I'm glad you feel I conveyed that well!), _Flowing Tears_ (glad you're liking it! Thank you for favoriting the story :3), _jazzymay377_ (oh my goodness, your review is so sweet and filled me with so much joy! I strive to stay true to their characters, and of course I hope to write well while doing it! Thank you for the kind words)

Seriously, I have no words to express my gratitude - thank you all!

So, as a heads up, this chapter is really, really, super duper, uncharacteristically short. Like, some of you might wonder if this is a ridiculously belated April Fool's joke, it's so short. I initially was making it longer, but in the end decided it was best to split the chapters up. So yeah... I have no idea what kind of reactions I'll get for this chap...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

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CHAPTER VII

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The delirium rolled in like a thick fog. She was vaguely aware of Vegeta talking somewhere, of her mouth making words in response. But outside of that, everything was a haze. Her whole body had begun to feel heavy - her arms, her head, her eyelids. Yes, especially her eyelids. Despite fighting to keep them open, she could feel them falling lower, and lower... and lower...

And then she was dreaming.

She lay naked and alone, a cold and empty blackness all around her. It felt like she had been here for an eternity. Perhaps lost. Perhaps dead. Waiting for someone - anyone - to take her away from here.

And then she felt _him_.

Her eyes fluttered shut under his touch. His hands moved with a sensual stealth over her body - exquisitely _warm_ , like hot caramel on her skin - drifting up her belly, gliding up her sides. Strong, calloused, _familiar_ hands.

 _Yamcha…_

A moment later, he was laying himself over her, naked and firm and wondrously _hot._ Bulma's eyes snapped back open, her arousal instant. With a sigh, she immediately wound herself around him, and their bodies entwined like two pieces of a puzzle, her hips against his, her breasts against his chest, their hearts pounding against each other in tandem.

Without delay, he began caressing her again. Very lightly at first, but then harder. _Is this Yamcha?_ she wondered. She wasn't sure anymore. There was a frightening power (and notable restraint) in the hands that explored her. The man embracing her was fervent but also _careful_. Mindfully gentle. She sensed he could easily hurt her, but he never did. He trailed a hand to her hip, giving it a firm but gentle squeeze. He brushed his fingertips along her face. He cradled her breast in his palm, pinching her nipple gently between his thumb and forefinger until it stiffened and tingled.

Bulma was flushed and breathless, her blood throbbing. His desire was fierce, too. She could feel it roaring at her, though there was nothing audible save for his hot, labored breaths by her ear. Appraisingly, she let her hands run slowly over his thick shoulders and down his strong arms, feeling the taut, smooth skin. _So muscular._ Had Yamcha always been this chiseled? She struggled to remember. Her fingers continued around to his back, and a small growl of pleasure vibrated through his chest as she trailed them up the path of his spine, along the nape of his neck, into his thick, coarse hair...

His hair.

Through her love-drunk stupor, it finally clicked. It wasn't Yamcha on top of her. It was...

"Ve…geta?" she breathed, no strength in her voice.

She felt his lips smile against her ear. The deep timbre of his voice hit her full force.

"Who else?"

 _Of course - who else?_ her mind repeated, as though it made perfect sense. For a moment, she clawed through her brain, trying hard to remember why she should find this revelation shocking, why this should be wrong, even when it felt so right. But no reasons came to her. Perhaps it did make perfect sense. Perhaps it always had. Him and her. _Them._

The hand slipping down between her legs brought her back. Vegeta nipped lightly at her ear.

"Now, shh," he whispered. "No more talking."

His fingers began to move, and Bulma lost all thoughts as her senses caught fire. All she could do was writhe softly beneath him as he nuzzled against her neck, nibbling and kissing his way down, working his fingers inside her. His lips trailed over the soft skin of her breast to her nipple, which he took into his mouth and grazed lightly with his teeth. She gasped. Almost insensible, she dove her fingers roughly in his hair, arching against him.

And suddenly the fingers withdrew.

Bulma moaned in protest, but then drew a startled breath as Vegeta gave her tug, pulling her down until they were face-to-face. He resettled himself so that his erection was against her opening. She stared up at him, her body quaking with anticipation.

But he didn't enter her. Instead, the Saiyan just held her there, staring into her face, his gaze dark and smoldering. In his eyes she saw warmth, possessiveness, reverence, protection. All for her. Her heart fluttered.

After a long moment, he stroked a lock of hair behind her ear and scoffed softly, a hint of a smile on his lips.

"To think, _I -_ Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans - have fallen for a weak, little Earthling."

The veiled admission made her heart swell. She smiled back, playful. "I'm not that weak."

He laughed, the sound soft and warm. "You're right," he said. "You're not." Bringing a hand to her cheek, he stroked a calloused thumb lightly over her lips. Instantly they parted for him. "Bulma…" he murmured. Smiling, she closed her eyes as he dipped down to kiss her.

When their lips met, he pushed into her at last. Bulma gasped and her eyes shot open.

Only there was no one on top of her. She was alone, on a bed, in a dark room.

 _Wha -? … Where am I?_

Slowly she looked around, struggling to make out shapes in the darkness, searching for clues. It was cold in here. There were no blankets on her, and her shirt rode up near her chest, exposing her bare belly to the chilly AC. Her stomach and back throbbed, a sharp and gnawing pain. Wincing, she gingerly reached a hand down to find the source, and felt the bandages under her fingers.

Reality washed back over her abruptly, cold and sobering. Namek. The dragon balls. The capsule house. The pterodactyl. Vegeta.

Vegeta...

The dream she'd had rushed back to her, unbidden and painfully fresh. Not the images, but the _feeling_ of it. She could _feel_ his hands on her skin, his lips on hers, searing hot, his...

Bulma flushed. She let out the long, unsteady breath she hadn't even known she was holding.

 _Holy fuck..._

* * *

A/N: Tada, my first ever lemon - pretty nervous about this one. Again, really sorry for how short it is. The next chapters will be a normal length. Until next time! Please leave a review if you have time. Hugs!


	9. Chapter VIII

A/N: Hello all you beautiful readers. You are the reason this story is still happening. Thank you for sticking with it this far! To the reviewers, I feel like I'm just repeating myself, but you guys are incredible. Seriously. There's nothing like posting a chapter, and seeing that uptick in reviews! :) Your words of encouragement make my heart feel beyond fuzzy inside. Special, special thanks to _Guest_ (hope you'll like this chapter ;) ), _Candylolz_ (thank you so so much for your continued support!), _Aztec Girl_ (Glad you liked it :D ), _xSapphirexRosesxFanx_ (I'm lost as her, too xD ), _Flowing Tears_ (Thank you! I'm glad you thought so. That's what I was going for. I wanted it to be just a little taste)

Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I had some writer's block going on (forgot how terrible it is).

This chapter will be in Bulma's POV again. Please enjoy and don't forget to review! Thanks :3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

* * *

CHAPTER VIII

* * *

Bulma lay in bed, her face beet red.

 _What was_ that _about?_

The last time she had dreamed about Vegeta, he was cornering her like a mouse, eyes red and murderous, a ki blast ignited in his hand. It had been one of the most vivid and terrifying nightmares she'd ever had.

But this... this had been...

The intensifying throb in her stomach interrupted her train of thought, and suddenly she was reminded of the more pressing matters at hand. Like her wounds, for one. Her cleaned and bandaged wounds...

 _Wait a minute._ She ran a hand curiously over her stomach. _Come to think of it, w_ _hen did... How did I... ?_

As Bulma pushed herself up to sitting, a spike of pain shot through the front of her skull. She brought a hand to her forehead and hissed, instantly recalling her less than wise decision to mix vodka and painkillers.

But, what she _couldn't_ recall, she realized, was just how the hell she got to bed. Or how she got bandaged up for that matter. _What happened?_

Bulma turned on the bedside lamp and inspected the bandages. The application was neat and precise; clearly they had been done with care and expertise. Expertise she surely wouldn't have possessed while doped-up. Which would mean...

 _Vegeta… Did he...?_

Closing her eyes, she backtracked to the last thing she could remember. It took a second, but gradually the image of Vegeta towering over her, towel in hand, swam to mind. Immediately she smiled. _Now I remember - he was helping me!_ Probing deeper, she recalled turning around in the seat at his request, and after that, when he had pressed the cloth against her bleeding back. But then things got fuzzy. She seemed to remember sitting in silence mostly - as she focused on the pain, the blood - and could vaguely recall Vegeta's gruff voice at some point saying something about how basically her wounds were nothing too serious.

Then her memory went completely dark.

Determined, Bulma backtracked further, hoping she could put more pieces together if she started from the beginning. In her mind, she revisited the terrifying moment she had felt the pterodactyl whisk her away. And then after that, when Vegeta had caught her in his arms and flown her back to the cave, where he'd set her down and...

Bulma bit her lip. _Oh yeah,_ that _was weird_.

There had been that very strange moment - between when he set her down and when she realized she was injured - where she almost could have sworn they were about to... to _kiss_ or something...

But of course, that couldn't be. _Obviously._ Her girly mind was just misreading it, that's all. Vegeta and her? _Kissing_? The notion was perfectly insane! Not just because of who he was - an alien, a _killer -_ but also because she just... well, she just couldn't picture Vegeta kissing _anybody._ Bulma innocently wondered if the Saiyan had ever kissed a girl. Hell, it seemed entirely possible that he wouldn't know what a kiss was. Had he ever dated anyone, she wondered? She tried to imagine Vegeta, Prince of All Saiyans, on a date, but the image was just too ridiculous. Vegeta had a one track mind as far as she could tell. Kill Frieza. Become supreme ruler. That was about it. It went without saying those things didn't seem to leave much room for love interests. And the guy wasn't exactly dating material, anyway. He was a total asshole. Aggressive, uncouth, anti-social, egotistical. Call it a hunch, but something told her he probably didn't have much - if any - experience with women.

He had certainly seemed pretty "experienced" in her dream, though.

Bulma flushed again. They had done a whole lot more than _kissing_ in her dream. While the details of it had already faded for the most part, she found that the undertones lingered - strong and pervasive - in her mind. The emotions, the... sensations. If she tried hard enough, she could feel his body on top of her, his hands and mouth as they...

She caught herself suddenly and huffed, blinking away the thought. So what if she had a dream about him! As if that meant anything. Dreams weren't supposed to make sense, that's why they were dreams. And boy, her and _Vegeta_? She couldn't think of anything that made less sense than that. Sure, the guy was good-looking, she'd admit it. But, as she had already reminded herself _several_ times, his good qualities ended right there. And while it was true that she had always had a weakness for bad boys, Vegeta wasn't a 'bad boy'. He was just... just _bad._

Or at least, that's what she kept wanting to believe.

When she thought about it, there was just no way she could have taken care of her injuries herself. Which meant it must have been Vegeta. He must have bandaged her wounds and helped her to bed.

But why would he do that? She understood he had his own selfish motives for saving her life - three times now. But, if it was true that she hadn't been at risk of dying from her injuries, she couldn't see what his motive would have been for taking care of her the way he clearly had. It sure seemed like a _nice_ thing for such a _bad_ guy to do. It was weird. As much as she kept telling herself Vegeta was evil, he just kept surprising her by doing things that suggested the opposite. Maybe there really was another side to him. Maybe there was even _good_ in him.

Bulma smiled.

 _I should go thank him._

Pushing through the pain, Bulma clambered out of bed and carefully changed out of her bloody clothes, donning a fresh pair of black leggings and a t-shirt. In the kitchen, as she washed down a couple more painkillers with a glass of water, her eyes took in the evidence of recent events. Drawers and cabinets splayed open in her frantic search for painkillers, bloody towels littering the floor. The first aid kit and it contents were strewn across the table, alongside her half-empty flask of vodka.

It was strange to see a scene she had played a part in but had no memory of. Perhaps it should have been more disconcerting than strange, actually - after all, she had blacked out around _Vegeta -_ but weirdly, it wasn't. Somehow, she just knew in her gut that he hadn't done anything to take advantage of her. Her mind returned to the memory of the Saiyan holding the towel gently but firmly to her back, and her heart felt strangely warm. _You're not as coldhearted as you want to believe, are you, Vegeta?_

She made her way to the bathroom to put the painkillers back in the cabinet. In the mirror above the sink, she caught a glimpse of her reflection and immediately frowned. She looked terrible. Windblown hair, a haggard face, and uncharacteristically lackluster eyes that held that weary, hangover glaze. Bulma bit her lip, studying the person in the mirror self-consciously. _Hmph, w_ _hat do you care? It's just Vegeta. It's not like he hasn't seen you disheveled before!_

But Bulma freshened herself up anyway. She scrubbed her face, fixed her hair, and brushed her teeth ferociously until the taste the booze was gone from her mouth. When she was done, she looked at herself one more time in the mirror, nodded in approval, and proceeded to head outside.

She opened the front door, starting as she came face-to-face with Vegeta. He looked surprised, too. His hand was upraised, clearly reaching for the door she had just beaten him to.

Bulma thought she had successfully put her dream behind her, but the immediate flush she felt on her face said otherwise.

"Ve...Vegeta," she stammered. "... What are you doing?"

Thankfully, Vegeta didn't seem to notice her flushed appearance. He straightened himself, all noble-like, his face reverting to its impassive mask. "Hmph, I came to get more food," he answered simply, brushing past her as he stepped inside. She felt an electric jolt run through her as his warm body grazed hers, and suddenly she could feel her heart beating a little too hard.

 _Ugh, what is going on with you! Forget about the_ _stupid dream, Bulma!_

"What are you doing?" he returned as he ambled towards the kitchen, oblivious to her internal dilemma. "I wouldn't have expected you up and about so soon."

Bulma almost didn't hear the question, her eyes too busy admiring the incredibly muscular body moving away from her. She could see the tautness of his muscles through his battle-suit as he walked. She was sure he had to be flexing, but who flexed their whole body all the time? Were his muscles just naturally like that? She caught herself wondering what he might look like without that suit and armor...

 _Snap out of it!_ she scolded herself. _This is_ Vegeta _, remember? Vegeta!_

"Well? Are you deaf?"

The gruff, impatient voice pulled her back to reality. She frowned at his retreating form. "Hmph, oh, sure. Don't bother asking _how_ I'm doing. I'm actually feeling quite _terrible_ , in case you were curious." _Jerk._ "But, to answer your question, I was actually going to go thank you."

He snorted. "You were about to hobble all the way out there for that?"

She blinked. "Well, yeah. You saved my life! And took care of my injuries..." She paused and tilted her head, his demeanor making her suddenly skeptical. "... I mean, that was you, right? I hardly remember anything, but I doubt I could have dressed them myself - given the state I was in. Man, I don't think I've blacked out like that since coll -"

"Yes, that was me," he cut her off brusquely. He opened the fridge and poked his head inside. "What of it?"

Bulma's brows furrowed in puzzlement. Why was this so difficult? "Well... nothing 'of it.' I just figured you deserved - "

"I told you before to keep your thanks, didn't I?" he interrupted again, not bothering to look at her as he spoke. "I took you hostage as leverage. Letting you die before your friends get here would defeat the entire point. Saving and treating you was for my own benefit, nothing more."

"But I thought you said my wounds weren't..."

She stopped herself as it clicked. Of course. He knew exactly what he'd done; he was just playing stupid. Vegeta was an "elite warrior," as he so often liked to remind her. He was all about machismo and looking callous and tough. Being kind didn't fit the image. _That stubborn jerk. He just doesn't want to admit to actually doing something_ nice _for someone._ A knowing smile spread across her face as she watched the Saiyan rifle through the fridge. "Right, of course, how silly of me," she started again, deciding to play along. "My injuries must have been pretty life-threatening, huh? Good thing Dr. Vegeta was there or I might have died."

Vegeta grunted in affirmation, only making Bulma's smile grow. After a minute, he emerged from the fridge, sniffing a container of something that was undoubtedly expired judging by the grimace on his face.

An idea hit her. "Hey, I know!"

Too busy hunting for food, Vegeta either ignored or hadn't heard her. When Bulma appeared at his side, her hands coiled around his arm, he jumped. "W-What do you think you're - "

"You'll see." She grinned and guided the baffled Saiyan into the living room, trying to ignore how nice his rock hard bicep felt in her hands. When they neared the sofa, she stopped but gave his back a little shove as encouragement to keep walking. "This'll take a couple minutes," she told him, pointing to the couch. "So just take a seat there and relax."

But Vegeta just huffed and folded his arms, squaring himself in defiance. "Did you injure your _head,_ as well?" he chided. "You do not give _me_ orders, Woman."

She should have known that's how he'd interpret it. Walking back to kitchen, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Of course, my mistake. Won't _Your Highness_ please take a seat and make himself comfortable while I make him something to eat?"

Her sassy tone went right over his inflated head. "...'Make me something?'" He narrowed his eyes. "Before you wouldn't even tell me what those foods were. Now you plan to cook for me?"

"Well, I guess that kinda depends on your definition of 'cook' - but yep!" She pulled some things from the fridge and walked to the stove, pausing when she noticed he was still glaring at her. "Oh, will you chill out and quit looking at me like that? You won't let me thank you verbally, so I'm repaying the kindness to you this way, alright?"

"I told you already, I - "

"You didn't do it for me," she finished for him. "Yeah, yeah, I heard you, Vegeta." She gave him a wink - enjoying how visibly uncomfortable the gesture seem to make him - and bent down to get a pan out of the cupboard. The action prompted a wave of pain to surge through her midsection. Bulma grabbed the counter and took a second, her face twisting.

She could feel Vegeta's eyes on her. "Are you in any state to even be doing that right now?"

She pulled herself back up to standing, his question drawing a smile from her despite the pain. "Aw, so you are concerned about me then?"

The Saiyan sputtered at the suggestion, "Tch! Don't be ridiculous! I - "

"Don't worry." She flashed him a reassuring smile then moved to the pantry and pulled out a container of instant ramen. "It hurts for sure, but the painkillers I took are kicking in, so I'll be okay. Now, do you want food or not? You're distracting me with all your questions!"

He glared at her a moment longer. Finally, with a resigning "hmph," he moved and plopped down on the sofa.

Bulma wasn't a cook. She knew the basics, but she was no Chi-Chi. Which was why most of the food items she planned to make were pre-prepared. Not that she thought Vegeta would really know or care. If he was anything like Goku, he would probably eat anything she put in front of him.

Here and there, she stole glances at her uptight house guest as she "cooked." He was sitting on the very edge of the couch, arms crossed and back stiff as a board. _Poor guy_. He was so on edge all the time. It was obvious why he would be right now, given their situation. But she had a feeling he was probably always like this, never letting his guard down (at least willingly) even for a second. Bulma thought how she would go crazy if she went through life like that - always feeling like she had to look over her shoulder.

That surreal feeling washed over her again. If someone had told her a week ago that she would be here, cooking for and (more or less) hanging out with _Vegeta,_ she would have asked them what they were smoking. It was also crazy to think that only a couple days had gone by. With the lack of sleep and constant daylight, it had felt like so much longer.

She found she felt weirdly nervous now about Krillin and Gohan's return, as well as Goku's arrival. What would Vegeta do once they got back? Would he follow through with his original plan? The thought made her stomach turn. She just didn't want to believe it - she couldn't. The more time she spent with him, the less she could envision him actually hurting her. He just couldn't be that heartless... could he?

But perhaps the weirder part was that she wasn't even so much nervous for herself, as she was for Vegeta. If he did choose to be stubborn, and fight her friends, she wasn't sure it would end well for him. Especially if Goku was involved. While she knew it shouldn't have bothered her to think of anyone hurting Vegeta, it did. Which was why she needed to convince him to ally with them. Not just for her sake. But for his sake, too.

"And voilà!"

Bulma set the last plate on the coffee table and quickly walked him through each dish. "Steamed meat buns. Shrimp and vegetable tempura. Rice. And that there is ramen. It's going to be your favorite, I have a feeling." Stepping back, she placed her hands on her hips and eyed the smorgasbord with pride. "There you go! A meal fit for a prince!"

Vegeta was clearly unamused by her pun. He looked over the steaming food skeptically, not budging from his rigid position.

"What gives?" she asked after a moment. "You're looking at the food like I poisoned it or something." Vegeta's gaze shifted to her suspiciously. "Oh c'mon! You can't be serious! You really think I would do that?"

He eyed her coolly. "I don't know what I think you'd do. What I do know is that with me dead, the dragon balls are all yours. Isn't that a convenient truth?"

Bulma folded her arms. "Hmph, you really are paranoid, you know that? And what about the fact that I already had the perfect chance to take the dragon balls and chose not to? I suppose I get no credit for that, huh?"

"A choice you said you regretted."

Bulma sighed, realizing he was right. Hesitantly she sat down on the couch, keeping her space from Vegeta, grimacing as she tried to find a position that wasn't too painful for her stomach. "I suppose I did say that, huh? Well, look, when I said that, you were just being a real jerk and..."

"Why does it sound like you're about to apologize to me?" She looked up to see a mixture of confusion and frustration in his eyes. "Why would you be sorry for that? You have every reason to want to escape. I still don't understand why you didn't. We're enemies, you and I..."

"We're not enemies." The tenacity of her interruption surprised her. Her voice grew softer - "Or at least, we don't have to be" - and softer - "I... I don't want us to be..." Bulma looked down at her hands uncertainly. She wanted them to be allies - that's what she had decided. But all of a sudden, deep down, she couldn't help but feel there was more to it than that. Was there part of her that hoped he would see her as a friend? Did she want to be _friends_ with _Vegeta_? "I didn't leave, because..."

"You told me why."

Bulma looked up at him again. "I... I did? When?"

"When I was treating your injuries." Seeing the question in her eyes, Vegeta continued, "But I didn't understand your reason. You said you 'thought I could use someone I can trust.'"

She hadn't expected the conversation to take a turn this quickly. Bulma let out an unsteady breath. "Look, Vegeta. Getting to know you a little these past couple days, I... I understand a bit better now. Or, at least, I think I do. This Frieza guy, he sounds... horrible. Not just from what you've told me, but from what Krillin and Gohan told me, what those kids in space told us. What he did to your planet, what he did to _you..."_

"You have no idea what he did to me." There was anger in his voice now.

Bulma shook her head. "You're right, I don't," she admitted. "But I can imagine -"

"Well stop imagining," he spat. "I have no use for pity. And I most definitely won't stand for it from a weak creature like you." Then he averted his gaze, and his tone softened slightly as he added, "Why do you even care what he did to me?"

That familiar heartache immediately returned. "Because someone should." Vegeta scoffed at that. Bulma looked down at her hands again as she searched for what she wanted to say. "I'm... I'm trying to show you, Vegeta, that we're not your enemy. _Frieza_ is... Have you even thought about what you plan to do if you _can't_ make your wish? Can you beat Frieza on your own, without immortality?"

Vegeta's jaw was clenching, which she noticed he did when he was thinking deeply about something. "I could if I became a Super Saiyan," he said eventually, more to himself it seemed than to her. "But I have my doubts about its attainability, especially without immortality."

"Well then why kill us when we can help you? We can be allies, Vegeta, that's all I'm trying to show you." Was it, though? "We have a common enemy. Why not fight him together?"

Silence fell again as Vegeta pondered her words. Then, to her ecstatic surprise, he said, "I suppose I'd consider it. Especially if Kakarot's strength has increased, it may make more sense to have him as an ally than as an enemy. For now."

Bulma's face lit up, and if not for her wounds she would have leaped in the air with joy.

Vegeta noticed her expression and grimaced. "I said I'd _consider_ it! But don't misunderstand me, Woman. I still fully intend to make my wish."

Well, you couldn't win them all. She hadn't really expected him to change his mind about that anyhow; Vegeta seemed pretty set on making his stupid wish. But hearing him say that he would at least _consider_ working with them as a team - instead of murdering them all - was huge progress. "Well, if that's what you really plan to do, I suppose there's not much I can do to stop you, is there?" She caught his eyes and smiled. "You know, it may seem strange to say, but... if it were between you becoming immortal, or this Frieza guy, then I prefer you." He looked a little surprised at that. Frankly, it shocked her a little, too. She thought back to when he had first captured her and told her they would be better off letting him make his wish than Frieza. She hadn't believed him at the time. But now? From the little she knew about Frieza, she was fairly certain that he _would_ have tortured and killed her, just as Vegeta had said. At least Vegeta showed signs of humanity, not harming her when he could have and overall treating her with decency.

When the silence became more than she could take, Bulma coughed, "So, what else did I say to you?"

Vegeta grunted. "When?"

"Don't play dumb!" she said, shooting him a glare. "When you were bandaging me up."

He looked at her almost uneasily. "... Nothing."

Her glare only hardened. "You hesitated! Why? What did I do?" When the Saiyan remained silent, Bulma's eyes grew as wide as the plates on the table. _Uh oh._ Her mind began to race. What had she done?! Had she... come on to him or something? The dream she had flashed through her head again, and she had to bite her tongue in an effort to keep the blush at bay. Maybe... maybe that's why she had dreamed about him. Maybe something actually _happened_ between them. "Did... did we...?"

It took him a moment to infer her meaning. When he did, his eyes widened. "No," he growled, as though it were the most shocking idea in the world. "We did not!"

 _Phew_. Bulma huffed. "Good! Because that would be rape, Vegeta! I wouldn't have been in any condition to give my consent."

Vegeta smirked at that. "Technically, I've had your consent from day one."

She suppressed a squeak. _Oh yeah..._ She'd almost forgotten that she'd offered herself to him on a silver platter, all but ten minutes after becoming his hostage. Bulma saved face, clearing her throat. "Hmph, excuse me, but that's not how consent works! For your information, that offer happened to expire the moment you denied it!"

Memory of that moment popped into her head - the look of pure confusion on Vegeta's face as she had traced her fingers down his arm. He had been so unfazed by the advance. Why? She hadn't put much thought into it at the time, but now she found herself suddenly self-conscious about it. _Does he not think I'm pretty? He said I was pretty early on. Though, he did say it while threatening me... But a compliment's a compliment, threat or not, right? Pfft, what am I thinking, of course he'd think so. I'm gorgeous! Maybe he's gay or something?... Ugh, why am I thinking about this!_

Sensing that her thoughts were at risk of derailing altogether, Bulma quickly veered the conversation back on course. "Well, anyway, if it wasn't _that_ , then what was it? Did I say something weird?"

"I fail to see how it matters now."

"Tell me, Vegeta!" she persisted, scooching just a little bit closer. "What did I say! I want to know everything."

He scoffed. "Tch, as if I'm going to waste my time recapping all the stupid things you said." _'All the things'? How many things were there?!_ He looked at her hesitantly. "You proposed I come live on Earth once I kill Frieza."

Well, _that_ certainly wasn't what she was expecting.

Bulma blinked at him, genuinely confused. "... I... invited you to Earth?"

"Yes." Vegeta eyed her carefully, gauging her reaction. "... Obviously as part of your scheme to dissuade me from making my wish and becoming ruler of the universe. I already told you, Woman, that won't work."

Yes, of course - surely it had been part of her "scheme." But the weird thing was, she thought she _had_ given up trying to manipulate Vegeta out of making his wish for immortality. And, even if that had been her drunken rationale, that still didn't explain why she would have volunteered Earth? She didn't want Vegeta to come back to Earth. He wanted to destroy Earth! Why would she have _invited_ him there?

"Hmph, yeah, well, you already know I think immortality is a stupid wish."

Vegeta laughed aloud and raised an eyebrow. "You're really going to lecture _me_ on stupid wishes?"

"Well, whatever." She glowered at him, then returned to the topic once more. "Okay, so there was that... Was there anything else?"

Vegeta tensed a little. "No."

Bulma squinted at him, not quite believing him, but decided to drop it. "Fine." She looked to the meal on the table. "So? You gonna eat or what? Your food's probably cold by now!"

He swept his gaze to the food once more, that look of skepticism returning to his face. Bulma's expression hardened. Her head was hurting, her injuries were killing her, and she was losing patience. "Look, I didn't tamper with your food, okay? I went out of my way to make this meal for you when, frankly, I feel like crap! The least you could do is humor me and eat it!"

He glanced to her briefly, jaw clenching. Then, after a long moment of consideration, he finally submitted. "Where are my eating utensils?"

Bulma beamed, her heart feeling warm again. "The chopsticks are right there," she said, pointing.

She watched the Saiyan take a chopstick in each hand. "Tch, how do you chop anything with these?"

At first, she thought the Prince of Saiyans was making a really weird and silly joke. But the way his brows knitted together made her realize he was serious. She laughed, immediately wincing as her wounds throbbed in protest. For a split second, she could swear she saw something akin to concern flicker in Vegeta's eyes, but it instantly vanished.

"Right, duh," she said, "I keep forgetting you're an alien! Here." Following her prompt, he handed her the chopsticks. She began to demonstrate. "You use them together in the same hand... like this... and kinda" - she effortlessly picked up a piece of broccoli - "pinch them together to pick up the food."

She gave the chopsticks back, watching as he proceeded to give it a go. But he could hardly hold them correctly. With a comical degree of concentration and three or four tries, the Saiyan Prince finally managed to pick up a piece of shrimp, only to have it drop to the floor as he tried to bring it to his mouth. Bulma stifled a giggle. Immediately flustered, Vegeta threw the utensils angrily on the table. "Forget the chopsticks, then!" he growled. "I'll eat with my hands."

"Would you relax?" Bulma smiled. "Here, let me help you." Gingerly, mindful of her injury, she slid to his side and placed the chopsticks back in his hand. "No, no. Put that one there," she instructed. He continued to fumble, and finally she elected to adjust them for him herself, placing her hands over his as she guided him through it. Bulma wasn't aware of her handsy-ness. But Vegeta was. That much became clear when she glanced to his face to find that familiar pink hue on his cheeks. She blinked.

 _He... He_ is _blushing._

Instantly she thought back to when they had been outside, her arms wrapped around his as she had sat beside him. At the time, she thought maybe she had just been imagining it. But she most definitely wasn't this time. Vegeta was _blushing._

Feeling cocky now, Bulma removed her hands and leaned back a little, sizing him up. "Oh, I get it." Vegeta caught her gaze, perplexed. She grinned. "You're not used to being so close to a beautiful woman, are you?"

Vegeta looked aghast. "W-What - "

"I know you think I'm pretty, Vegeta. Why else would you be blushing?" Playfully she flipped her hair. "I'll admit, I was starting to think you were immune to my charm."

The Saiyan gawked at her. He clenched his fists, completely red in the face. "You - "

"You act all tough, but now I see. The blushes, you letting me set up my capsule house, helping me when I was hurt - you're just a big softie behind that mean ol' mug of yours, aren't you?"

His face grew dark. Voice dangerously low, he replied, "Call me that again, Woman, and you'll regret it."

A day ago, Bulma might have recoiled at the seriousness of his tone, but now she just giggled. "Oh, c'mon, loosen up, Vegeta! I'm just _joking_."

The Saiyan clenched his fists a moment longer. Finally, he snapped his head away and his anger faded, confusion taking its place. "I don't understand you," he said. "Why do you risk saying such things?"

"You don't seem to actually dislike it, though," she observed, tilting her head curiously. She thought for a second. "And anyways, I don't really get why you found what I said so terrible. I mean, why would you want to pretend you're made of cold, hard stone all the time? It's boring, for one. And it's also just not true. I know there's more to you. I've seen it." When he said nothing, she went on. "Think about it. Don't you find it strange? I've been here with you for days now. You could have done a whole lot of terrible things to me, but you haven't. If anything, you've protected me. You helped me - "

"For the umpteenth time, I didn't do it for -"

"- for me. I know, I know. My point is, being here with you... It hasn't been hateful. Your company's even been weirdly... _enjoyable_ , when you're not being a total ass." She met his gaze unwaveringly. "I hate to admit it, but... but you were right: I am grateful it was you who found me, and not Frieza."

Something flitted across his face in that instant, vanishing before she could interpret it. His eyes fell to her hand as she once again placed it over his. "And," she said, "whatever your reason for helping me the way you did - the _real_ reason - _t_ _hank you,_ Vegeta. I mean it."

She wasn't sure what possessed her, but before she knew it she was leaning in and planting a peck right on the Saiyan's flushed cheek. It was a chaste gesture, and yet, as she pulled away, she found it had altered something. She could feel the air around them had become thick. Like her kiss had been the lightning, and now any moment the thunder would crack. Looking into his eyes, she knew he felt it, too. Her eyes glanced down to his lips, parting ever so slightly, and suddenly all she felt like she wanted to do was...

 _Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, what am I doing?_ Panicked, Bulma rose and gave a nervous laugh. "Silly me, I forgot daikon radish! You can't eat your meal without a side of daikon radish!"

Without waiting for Vegeta's reaction, she turned on her heel and started for the refrigerator, cursing the small part of her that hoped he would stop her, as well as the part of her that was disappointed when he didn't. Everything was racing: her heart, her mind, her feet. She probably shouldn't have been walking so fast, given the searing pain in her stomach, but she needed to get away from that couch.

 _What was that?_ Should she have kissed him? But that would be crazy. This was Vegeta! Ve-ge-ta. How many times did she need to say it to get it through her thick skull?

But then, what did that name even mean to her anymore anyway? She could say it as many times as she wanted; it just didn't instill the terror in her that it once had. Now all she thought of was a _really_ handsome man, who was a total jerk, yes - morally ambiguous, misguided, and maybe even a bit confused. But not evil. Not a monster.

 _The painkillers must be_ _going to my head._

By the time she got to the fridge, she felt lightheaded. She let out a shaky sigh to collect herself, and after a moment felt like she was finally getting control of her thoughts again. But that didn't last long. Just as she wrapped her fingers around the handle and began opening the door, Vegeta's pressed his body right up against her, his arm snaking in alongside hers as he slammed the door back shut.

"That's enough now," he said, his mouth right near her ear, voice so low it sent shivers over her skin. "I don't need anymore food."

Bulma felt all the blood leave her brain. After a moment, her mouth responded for her, softly. "Okay, no more then..."

And time froze. An eternity seemed to pass as they stood there, each waiting to see what the other would do, who would make the next move. She could hardly think. His body was so _warm_ , fitting against her like a mold, and despite the clothes and armor between them, she could feel his heat pouring into her, making her head feel dizzy. His hot breaths came out in a steady rhythm behind her; they tickled her hair, each one sending a flurry of butterflies to her stomach, which she somehow felt underneath all her pain.

Finally, Vegeta broke the silence. "I lied before, by the way," he murmured, his voice deep and gravelly. "There was something else you said."

Her heart was pounding, mind racing as she scrambled to think what it could possibly be.

"... What was it?"

He moved in closer, his lips grazing her ear. "You said my name, in your sleep." The words made her stomach flop; her dream flittered through her mind. "Must have been a nightmare you were having."

His lips and breath on her ear, his closeness, the feel of him - all of it - made her thinking incredibly delayed, and it took her a moment to realize that his statement was actually more of a question. Heart racing, knowing precisely how he would interpret it, Bulma turned her head ever so slightly, whispering,

"No... It wasn't..."

She could tell Vegeta understood instantly by the way his breath hitched, the way his whole body tensed against her - and for a brief moment, she actually felt a little afraid as she felt a feral energy pulse through him into her. She needed to look at him, she decided. Needed to remind herself who she was dealing with. That would help her get her sense back.

Willing herself to action, she turned herself around and took a step back, placing her hands delicately on her captor's chest to get a good look at him. His gaze scorched her, but he remained still, letting her study him, as though understanding. Bulma stared long and hard into his face - looking for some trace of cruelty, or emptiness, or sadistic glint - anything to remind her why this man was a monster. But she found nothing. All she saw was a questioning, a searching curiosity. She saw trepidation, and - yes - most of all, she saw _desire._ As she studied him, she could feel his heart under her palm, beating just like hers, racing just like hers. And in that moment she realized she couldn't remember why she had ever been afraid of this man.

"Vegeta..."

That seemed to be the catalyst. Suddenly he was moving forward, closing the distance. _This is a dream_ , she thought, as she felt his hands on her hips, pulling her close, until there was no more space between them. _Just a dream,_ she thought, as he ran a hand - a hand so gentle it couldn't possibly be his - up her arm, testing, his eyes searching hers, as though to ask if what he was doing was okay. Her mind said no, but she knew her face betrayed her. His touch, as simple as it was, was out of this world, like sparks on her skin. He trailed it over the contour of her shoulder, along her neck. She remembered how that hand had hurt her, when he first took her captive - how effortlessly it had _crushed_ another man's head. And now here it was, cradling hers - so gently, with such care - as if she were made of glass.

He gave her hair a light tug and dipped his head down, placing deliberate kisses up the column of her neck. His lips were so hot and smooth. One kiss, and she trembled. Two kisses - a little higher - and her knees felt weak. Like a spool of thread, she could feel herself unraveling with each warm, wet touch, until finally there was nothing left - no more resolve, no more conflicting thoughts. There was just the feeling. His lips kissed the pulse just behind her ear, and Bulma heard herself make a little sound. Eyes fluttering closed, she reached an arm around his neck, trailed her hand into his hair. His hair was softer than she thought it would be, but coarser than hers. She threaded her fingers through it, dragged them along his scalp. Vegeta reacted to the touch and hummed sensually against her, his grip on her tightening. The weight of his body against hers was marvelous. Somewhere far away she could feel the throbbing pain of her injuries, but she didn't care. She didn't care about anything anymore. She didn't care if this was wrong. Didn't care about the dragon balls, or Earth - whether she lived or died. Didn't care about what awaited them on the other side of this moment - whatever this "moment" was. All she cared about was having as much of this man as possible, right now.

"Vegeta." She kept her eyes closed as she breathed his name - afraid that if this was a dream, she would wake up if she opened them.

He stopped immediately. "Am I hurting you?" he said against her skin.

Her eyes opened at that. _Hurting me?_ For a second she was confused - for he was being so gentle she couldn't understand why he would ask that. Then she remembered her injuries. "No," she whispered, eager for him to continue, "I'm okay."

"Good," he replied. "If I am, tell me. We'll stop." He pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers as he looked into her face. Their noses were practically touching - his lips dangerously close to hers. "We won't do anything that will risk making your injuries worse."

Her heart turned over in her chest. Somehow, his words of concern turned her on more than anything else he could have said in that moment. _'We won't_ do _anything.'_ Her mind repeated his statement, focusing on the "do." What were they about to do? Of course she knew - but it made her head spin.

Almost absently, she reached up, brushing her fingers lightly against his cheek. "Look at you," she smiled. "What a gentleman."

He laughed darkly, and a chill of fear and excitement rushed over her as his eyes flashed. "Hardly."

And with that, he leaned in. She closed her eyes, her body quaking, but, just when he was so close she could feel the heat from his lips, his whole body seized, and his head whipped to the side.

 _"Kakarot."_

And just like that reality came crashing back down around them. Before Bulma could say anything, Vegeta had swept out of the house like a whirlwind, leaving her feeling empty, cold, lightheaded, and _confused._

 _What the hell just happened?_

Completely dazed, Bulma walked - as fast as her wounds allowed her - to the bedroom. She stripped her t-shirt and donned a black long sleeve shirt, yellow vest, and boots. Then she made her way outside.

She could hear them the moment she opened the door, their frantic voices bouncing off the walls of the cave. Her heart was pounding again, but not in a good way this time. Vegeta was standing with his back to her in his imposing stance, arms crossed, and a few yards ahead of him, were Krillin and Gohan.

As Bulma emerged from the darkness, the cave grew eerily hushed as all eyes turned on her.

Things were about to get interesting.

* * *

A/N: So, I realize, realistically, with wounds like Bulma's, she would probably be down for the count. But, to avoid Bulma being a useless turd for the rest of the story, I'm using some suspension of disbelief. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it! If you did, please take a moment to leave me a review. It would make my day! On to the next chap.


	10. Chapter IX

A/N: OH MY GOODNESS I'M SO SORRY. My family visiting threw things off big time. Blahhhh. That said, I do not expect forgiveness. Hopefully you remember what the heck this story was about. Thank you to all the readers and huge thanks to the all the reviewers! Special thanks to those who left me heart-warming and encouraging reviews on the last chap: _Dulcet Shoujo_ (I am seriously so grateful for _all_ your reviews. I absolutely love reading them. And I'm glad you liked the fluffy chapter!), _Sameguestalways_ (Hah, I had never seen that video before, but it's right up my alley xD), _Guest_ and _Guest_ (thank you so much!), _ThoseWhoLiveWithoutLove_ (I'm glad you like it so far! And thank you so much for adding it to your favorites, I'm seriously honored, thank you!), _jazzymay377_ (oh my goodness, what a compliment! Thank you. I was going for that steady build-up ;D )

This chapter was hard to write, and it's quite a doozy.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DBZ or any of the characters.

* * *

CHAPTER IX

* * *

He was leaning in to kiss her when the ki struck him like lightning, making his whole body jerk. Instantly he knew there was only one person it could be.

 _"Kakarot._ "

A switch flipped in his brain. Without even sparing the girl another thought or glance, Vegeta released her and made for the door, his head spinning from the sudden rush of reality. This was really happening. Kakarot was really here. That low-class trash, that disgrace of a...

But when he stepped outside, he was shocked to see that it wasn't Kakarot. It was his brat and that Earthling, Krillin, standing at the entrance of the cave. They had returned. Which meant...

 _The password._

His eyes grew wide as excitement rode hard and fast through his body. Finally. Fucking finally! He had started to lose hope. Had thought they might have died. But now it looked like everything was going to work out after all. Soon, he would finally make his wish. He would finally kill Frieza. Would finally be free.

Vegeta took a deep breath to contain himself. As exciting as it was, he hadn't made it to the finish line just yet. He needed to stay level-headed, keep his composure.

The Earthlings ventured into the cave warily - clearly unsure about what to expect from this encounter. Vegeta himself felt a little unsure. He hung back in the dark as they approached, thinking, his eyes locked on Kakarot's son.

How was the brat's power level so damn high? Last he'd seen the boy was right after he'd killed Zarbon. That had been just a few days earlier, and he hadn't been nearly as powerful then. _Unless he was hiding his true power from me?_ It seemed the only logical explanation. But how? How could he possibly have gained that much power since their battle on Earth? Hell, a boy like him shouldn't have had such power at all! He wasn't even a full-blooded Saiyan for crying out loud. And yet here he was, boasting a power level the Saiyan Prince himself had spent years of training to attain? It didn't make any sense. It shouldn't have been possible.

Vegeta could feel the resentment bubbling up, memories of his battle on Earth - his defeat, his humiliation. But with a shake of his head, he pushed it all back down, bringing himself back to the issue at hand.

Whatever the reason for the boy's power, the development was unsettling. Sure, alone the kid was no threat to him. But he, Baldy, and Kakarot together? That combination of power could prove problematic. Not that he didn't think he could defeat them. It would just be an inconvenience - a detraction from the foe that mattered. As much as he hated to admit it, the woman was probably right. He could destroy the Earthlings eventually - and he would - but, for now, perhaps it made more sense to put his grudge aside. Save his energy for Frieza.

That said, he _would_ get that password from them, no matter the cost.

The Earthlings drew closer, speaking to each other in hushed, uneasy voices. Vegeta stayed back a moment longer, finalizing his plan. Finally, he nodded, readied himself, and emerged from the shadows to greet them.

They halted instantly when they saw him, their bodies tensing and flinching back. Vegeta smiled as the familiar feeling coursed through him. He had almost forgotten what it was like to be feared. The girl was truly an anomaly. Her lack of fear had been strange - even frustrating - at first, and though he still didn't understand it, he had gotten used to it. But seeing the Earthlings in front of him like this, so obviously terrified - he remembered now why he loved it. The power rush was intoxicating.

"Well, it's about time you two showed - I was getting tired of waiting." He took a few steps closer then stopped, leaving a few yards in between them. Unable to resist, his grin widened. "Though I suppose it wasn't all bad," he added. "I did have your lovely woman friend to keep me company."

The kid's reaction was immediate. He snarled almost ferally, his little hands balling into fists. For a split second Vegeta had the passing thought that - if not for the ridiculous garb and haircut - he might have seemed slightly Saiyan. "Where is she, Vegeta!" he shouted, his boyish shrill ringing through the cave. "What have you done with her! Did you hurt her! You'll pay if you've hurt her!"

The Saiyan crossed his arms and quirked a brow. "I'll 'pay,' huh?" He snickered. "Ooo, I'm shaking in my boots. Get real, kid. Your power level may be high, but you're still nowhere near my level." He eyed the boy quizzically. "How is it your strength has increased so much, anyway, hm?"

"Answer the question! Where is Bulma!"

Incensed, the boy made to move forward, but Krillin held him back. "Hold on, Gohan," he said, his voice calm and low. "I can sense her more clearly now. Her ki seems steady. I think she's okay."

Vegeta nodded. "She is." He glanced to the fuming Gohan and chuckled. "Relax, kid, I haven't hurt your friend."

"Then where is she!"

As if on cue, a small sound caught their attention, and Vegeta glanced over his shoulder. It was Bulma, meandering around rocks as she made her way to join them. She had changed her clothing, he saw - dressed now in an outfit similar to the one she'd worn when he first captured her. As she stepped into the light, their eyes caught, causing the moment they had just shared inside to flicker in his mind. Vegeta frowned and quickly whipped his head away, snuffing it out.

Part of him wanted to think about it - of course. But he wouldn't. He would not think about it, he would not think about her. It didn't matter. She didn't matter. He had _important_ things to focus on now.

The girl looked to her friends and grinned. "Krillin! Gohan!"

The Earthlings sighed in relief. "Bulma!" Krillin beamed. "You are okay!"

Bulma stopped in her tracks, and her smile fell. "'Okay?'" she said. "'OKAY?!"

Taken aback by her tone, the fighters flinched back again. Vegeta couldn't help but smirk. This Earth woman had no fighting power whatsoever, yet somehow her friends were scared of her all the same. It was intriguing - and oddly alluring. The Saiyan suddenly remembered her plan to pummel the Earthlings once they returned, and found himself struck with the strange desire to see her follow through. He scolded himself when he realized where his mind had strayed.

 _Tch, ridiculous!_ What was he doing, thinking such a frivolous thought right now? And hadn't he _just_ told himself he would not think about her? She was a thing of the past now. The only thing that mattered was Frieza. And he would not let some idiotic Earth girl distract him from that.

Bulma's voice was shrill. "'Okay'... I can't believe you'd say that to me! Do you have even the faintest idea what I've been through? Huh?! ...No? Well, let me tell you." Vegeta's jaw immediately clenched and he suppressed a groan. He exhaled slowly through his nose, bracing himself for the impending rant. "Let's see," she began, using her fingers to list off her hardships, "where to start? While you two were off gallivanting around: a giant crab almost killed me, I got kidnapped twice - "

"Twice?" Krillin blinked.

She glared, annoyed she'd been interrupted. "Yeah, twice! Three times if you count the pterodactyl that tried to make a meal out of me! All because YOU guys left me by myself when I told you not to. What were you two thinking, leaving a defenseless lady like me all alone, huh? This is all on you, you know! And what the hell took you so long to get back!? A little urgency would have been nice. I -"

"Enough!" The curtness of his voice made her jump, and she promptly stopped talking. Vegeta knew her well enough by now to know she'd go on all day if he let her. And he didn't have all day. He had a wish to make.

The girl made to walk forward again, clearly confused when the Saiyan raised his arm to keep her from advancing any further. He paid her no attention, though, instead locking his eyes on the Earthlings. "Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" he said, his tone serious now. "You should consider yourselves lucky. I was going to make my wish and just kill you all, but your woman friend here has managed to persuade me otherwise. So, here is the deal - and I suggest you take it. I will agree to call a truce with you. But" - his eyes flashed - "you will let me make my wish in return."

The fighters looked appalled.

Krillin gave a shake of his head, fists clenching at his sides. "No way!" he ground out. "We... we're not going to let you do that."

To their surprise, Bulma was the one to respond - and ardently. "Krillin, did you not just catch what he said? Vegeta is willing to call a _truce_. Why wouldn't you take that deal?"

The human gaped at her. "But... but we can't just let him make his wish. You know we can't. He's going to wish for immortality. He'll... He'll be unstoppable."

Vegeta smiled at the thought.

"Not only that." Krillin shut his eyes, looking pained. "It would mean our entire journey would have been for nothing! We won't be able to wish our friends back. We won't be able wish _Yamcha_ back, Bulma."

His smile fell into a scowl.

Yamcha. The girl's _boyfriend._ He'd almost forgotten about him. Clearly, she had forgotten about him, too, if she was willing to...

Their encounter in the kitchen threatened to breach his mind again, and Vegeta quickly squashed the thought. _Focus, focus, focus!_

"You don't think I realize that?" the girl snapped. But the weight of her friend's words seemed to hit her, and when she spoke again, her voice quivered. "Of course I know that." Vegeta watched her eyes grow watery, his stomach turning slightly with an emotion he didn't recognize. Bulma exhaled shakily. "They're... they're gone, you guys." A heavy and mournful silence followed, and she lowered her gaze. When her eyes snapped back up, they were hard once more. "But we're still alive. And I for one would like to take whatever chance I can get to keep it that way! Even if it means letting Vegeta have his wish so that he can beat Frieza."

"We don't need Vegeta to beat Frieza," Krillin argued. "We have Goku! He'll -"

"Don't be a fool," Vegeta cut in. His patience, thin to begin with, was waning rapidly. "You've sensed Frieza's power. You know Kakarot is no match for him. None of us are, as it stands. Our only hope of defeating him is if we make me immortal."

Krillin fixed him with a scathing glare. "And then what, huh?" he snapped. "Then you turn on all of us afterwards, is that it? We've all seen how you reward your 'allies,' Vegeta."

That fucking incident with Nappa would haunt him forever, wouldn't it? Vegeta grunted, "Idiots. Are you not hearing me? I'm trying to make a deal with you - a pretty damn good one, if you ask me. You let me become immortal, and in exchange I promise not to harm any of you." _At least until I visit Earth again._ "We will fight Frieza together. Or you can just stay out of my way - I don't care which. But if I don't make my wish, then we're all done for. Frieza will kill us all."

"No." He'd almost forgotten about the kid. Gohan had been awfully silent until then, stewing as he listened, his teary eyes cast downwards. "We can't," he said. "You... You destroyed that village. You killed them all, Vegeta. The elders, the children. I buried their bodies." His tiny body began to shake with bridled fury. "You're _evil_ , just like Frieza. I can't let you do it. I won't..."

"Gohan," Bulma tried, her voice gentle. "Look, kiddo, he - "

"NO!" The boy's answer rang around them with finality. His eyes snapped back up, fiery, hateful, unwavering. "I won't let him!"

His patience had officially run out. Vegeta set his chin, his black eyes grave. "Have it your way then. Back to my original plan..." Bulma's head snapped to him. "...Let me make my wish, or the woman dies."

The fighters blanched, their cries of alarm filling the cave.

"What! No!"

"Don't you dare, Vegeta!"

The words had left his mouth easily enough - almost reflexively. Largely because he was tired of talking in circles, but also because - well - it was just the way he operated. The Saiyan Prince had always used menace to get his way. It was doubtful he would need to follow through with the threat, anyhow. It was clear the Earthlings cared far too much about their friend to let her die.

Though, even if he did need to follow through... so what?

Vegeta recalled her earlier remark with disdain. How dare she call him soft - she had no right. _Soft_ was being a slave to one's emotions. _Soft_ was what weaklings were. He was anything but _soft._ He was hard and callous - a cold, ruthless warrior. And a warrior never let things as petty as _emotions_ dictate his decisions.

His concern for her before had been authentic. He'd had no intention of hurting her. But it was a different context now. One didn't become an efficient killing machine without being clinical like that. It was all about compartmentalization; walling things off in his mind, not allowing said things to ever interfere with one another. He didn't _want_ to hurt the girl. But he needed that wish. And he would do whatever he needed to do to get it.

He knew all this.

So why did he suddenly feel sick?

Bulma's gaze on him only made it worse. "Vegeta… " Her voice sent a chill through him. It was hauntingly soft, soft as before. Only it was different now - so full of hurt and confusion. Vegeta chewed his lip, that ill feeling swarming through him. _Don't look._ But the pull of her gaze was too strong, and he did. His stomach tightened even more. Her face was a weave of betrayal, disappointment, sadness, fear. All the things he would have expected to see. Things that shouldn't have bothered him at all - but did. He could feel the knot in his stomach growing the longer he looked. Finally, it became too much and he ripped his gaze away.

He didn't know what this feeling was. Was it guilt? But that couldn't be; Vegeta didn't feel _guilt._ Even so... illogical as it was, he sensed some strange trust had grown between him and the girl during their time together, and that he was breaking that trust now.

But so the hell what! It was her fault for trusting him in the first place! If she felt betrayed that was her fault, not his. The memory of Bulma falling against his chest flashed through his mind. _'You wouldn't really kill me, would you?'_ she'd asked. He frowned at the memory. Why the hell wouldn't he kill her? He had a physical attraction to her - a strong one. Obviously. But that's as far as it went. It wasn't like this weak little creature _meant_ anything. He didn't actually ca...

A hand connected with the back of his head, startling him from his thoughts. In front of him, horror bloomed in slow motion on the Earthlings' faces.

Krillin gulped, "Uh, B-Bulma… ?"

"You... you JERK!" the girl bellowed. "What the hell! _How dare you!_ After we - "

" _Quiet,_ " he muttered, teeth clenched, quick to cut her off before she could finish.

But his attempt to silence her only made her angrier. He heard her make that noise she made when she was frustrated - that kind of groan and wail combined - and her ki spiked. She went to whack him again. Vegeta snarled and spun around this time, catching her wrist before she could. She fought against his grip, determined to land the blow. Realizing it was futile, she went to strike him with her other hand, but he caught that one, too.

Time seemed to stop as he held her there, looking into her face. The girl was positively livid. Her tear-filled eyes burned like embers in the dim light of the cave, her gaze searing him, making his skin feel hot. He watched her chest heave with swift, labored breaths, her pale skin flushed and glowing. She was gorgeous. Her lips had a tendency to pucker when she was mad, and Vegeta noticed they were puckered now... As if under a spell, his eyes strayed to them - so plump and perfect. He could feel his blood rushing, his temperature rising. The thoughts of earlier were pressing on his mind again, too powerful to stop this time. Like a dam bursting, and they flooded in - inexorable and lucid. The taste and heat of her skin as he'd held her to him. The little exhale she made as he'd kissed her neck. The feeling of her hair, silky soft, between his fingers - the look of want in her eyes as he'd leaned in to kiss her. As if that wasn't enough, those thoughts went on to spark others - thoughts that weren't even sexual. Inane thoughts. He thought back to when he'd carried her to her room - her lithe body cradled in his arms, face so peaceful. He saw flashes of her naïve little smile, her angry little pout. His cheek burned from the memory of her little kiss, feather-light. He even thought of her laugh. He'd only heard it once or twice, but he could hear it now, crystal clear in his mind. It was a nice sound. A sound he wouldn't mind hearing again - a sound he kind of _wanted_ to hear again. And finally, he remembered her eyes, so tender and trusting, as she'd placed her hand over his.

 _'You wouldn't really kill me, would you, Vegeta?'_

Vegeta surfaced from the thoughts, his gaze straying back to her eyes. The realization hit him then, gut-twisting and unprecedented. He wasn't sure he could do it. If the Earthlings refused to give him the password, he wasn't sure he could follow through with his threat to hurt her. Gods, hurting her was the very last thing he could envision right now. All he wanted was to pull her to him again, finish what they had started inside, the Earthlings and everything else be damned.

His mouth went dry.

 _Fuck._

What was happening? This was bad. Vegeta could feel the walls in his head crumbling - emotions spilling over where they shouldn't. His mind began to backpedal. Bulma was still staring at him with that alluring energy, looking like she would blow a gasket any second. The Saiyan pulled her just a little closer, his voice quiet so the others couldn't hear. "Listen to me. I -"

"Don't touch her!"

Startled by the brat's sudden command, Vegeta turned his head and acquiesced, letting go of Bulma's wrists.

"Wait a minute, Vegeta." It was Krillin now, looking troubled and confused. "Am I missing something here? You have all the dragon balls, so what does Bulma have to do with any of this? ... I mean, not that I'm complaining, but couldn't you have made your wish already? What do you need from us?"

The Saiyan's scowl deepened. He turned back around fully, his gaze menacing. "Hmph. Don't play coy with me," he warned. "You know perfectly well why I haven't made my wish and what I need. I need the password. Give it to me. Give it to me and I will agree not to harm any of you." His heart was pounding now, the stress building, his resolve wavering. _C'mon,_ he thought, _stop making this so difficult. Don't make me..._

"Password?"

The reply threw him _._

He grunted harshly, resisting the sudden urge to rip his hair out. "Yes, the _password._ The one to activate the dragon balls. I'm in no mood for games anymore, little man. For the last time, give it here."

But the fighter only stared at him, his furrowed brows twitching in confusion. "We don't have a password."

Vegeta went rigid.

 _...What?_

Certainly, that had been a joke. A really unfunny joke.

He took a step forward, eyes narrowing. "What do you mean you don't have it?"

"Wait..." Bulma was stepping around him, sounding more nervous now than angry. "You went all the way to Guru's. He didn't give it to you while you were there?"

"He didn't."

 _"What?!"_ The Saiyan's composure crumbled instantly. He could swear he heard Bulma breathe 'Oh no' but he was too shocked to really notice. "I don't believe you!" he boomed. He took another step towards them, and instinctively they took a step back. "What the hell would you have been doing this whole time if not finding out how to make the damn balls work!"

The Earthlings hesitated. Vegeta's head spun. If... If this was true, it would ruin everything. This couldn't be happening. It didn't make any sense. The girl had told him they were getting the password! _What's... What's going on here?_

Then it clicked.

His eyes snapped to Gohan. "You! Boy!" he barked. "Where did all that power of yours magically come from, huh? Tell me!" Gohan stared at him defiantly, his silence only confirming Vegeta's thoughts. The Saiyan's teeth ground so hard he thought they might crack. So it was true then; the boy _hadn't_ been this powerful a couple days ago. Somehow, he had attained all his power since then. The Nameks must have had some ability he was unaware of - some trick to awaken one's power. "Is that what you've been up to this entire time then? You've been off visiting some Namek, getting a little power boost?" He shot Bulma an incredulous glare. "Did you know this?!"

She looked slightly dazed, her wide eyes looking elsewhere. Fists clenched, still not understanding, he whipped his head back to the Earthlings. "Well, there's some kind of password needed!" he cried. "The dragon balls won't work - I've already tried!" He paused. "Unless... unless you two are lying to me and you do know it. Unless..." His eyes went wide, his stomach dropping as his mind went one step further. He turned fully on Bulma now. She looked scared - like a dog that knew it had done something wrong. Vegeta grabbed her by her vest, ignoring the Earthlings' protests, and yanked her to him to stare her in the face. "Unless YOU'VE been lying to me, and have known what the password was all along!"

The familiar feeling of betrayal was returning, twisting his insides, making the ill feeling intensify tenfold. It couldn't be. But... but it might make sense. Bulma had known the password but kept her mouth shut, biding her time ( _wasting_ his) until her friends' return, hoping the boy's increase in power would be enough to save her. How could he not have seen? How had he been such a fool? After all the times he'd saved her, after he'd helped her, after he'd actually felt guilty!

The Earthlings were hurling shouts and threats at him, the brat yelling something like 'I'm warning you!', but Vegeta paid no notice. It was just him and Bulma right now. He looked her dead in the eye, his words hushed. "Have you known it this whole time?"

Though fearful, Bulma met his gaze courageously, her small hands closing over his. "W-What? No, Vegeta." He saw truth in her eyes, and a slight relief washed through him. But then: "Look, I can explain... "

His anger flared. "You can 'explain?'" he hissed, and lowered his voice to a menacing whisper. "Explain what?"

He heard the sound catch in her throat as she tried to answer, and tugged her closer.

"Let her go, Vegeta!" Krillin shouted. "We're not lying to you! We didn't even know there was a password!"

The words made him bristle. Vegeta snapped his head to the human, eyes wide. "What?!" _But..._ He turned back to Bulma. "They didn't know?"

She stammered. "That's what I'm trying to explain - "

"You said they were getting the password."

"I-I figured they were..." Her lips quivered. "Look, this is just a big misunderstanding, okay? W-When you first kidnapped me, and I told you they were getting the password, I..."

As she spoke, Vegeta unthinkingly went to grab her arm. It was a poor move. Suddenly Kakarot's son was yelling, "I SAID DON'T TOUCH HER!" and a foot was slamming into the side of his head. He saw stars. The world blurred as he went flying. There was a _boom_ as his body plowed through something solid, and a _crash_ as he smashed into something else. _"My capsule house!_ _"_ a voice cried. After a second, when the world had stopped moving, Vegeta opened his eyes. Sure enough, he was back in the kitchen, wedged in a very broken refrigerator, its contents all over him.

He sat up with a grunt. The air was thick with dust, and his ears rang. Gingerly he brought a finger to his throbbing temple, and pulled it away to find blood on his glove.

"Are you insane?!" a muffled voice yelled somewhere. "You... you just attacked _Vegeta!"_

Yes, his dazed mind agreed, that was exactly what had just happened, wasn't it? That little twerp actually had the balls to attack _him_. He hadn't even been about to harm the blasted girl!

 _The girl._

The gut-clenching feeling rushed through him once more. What had she been about to tell him just now? What the hell was going on? Had she lied to him in the very beginning, when she'd said they were getting the password? Maybe they were all lying, and they did know the password? Maybe she wasn't lying, but they were? He was so _confused._ Goddammit at this point he hoped they were lying, because if not, and they didn't have the password, then he was fucked. Everything was royally, royally fucked. _They must have it. They must._

He would get to the bottom of this.

Pissed and still slightly stunned, Vegeta brushed bits of food off him and climbed to his feet.

But the kid was not done.

"MASENKO - "

He heard a whir, followed by another shriek, and looked up to see a bright yellow ki beam heading straight for him. With a curse, he sank down, throwing his arms into a cross-block with nanoseconds to spare. The blast hit him head on. His teeth chattered from the jolt of impact. In spite of his block, he could feel the energy zing through his arms, ripple down his spine.

It was abundantly clear that this was no ordinary attack. The power was too immense. Too continuous - the wave rushing at him in what seemed like a never-ending stream. There was no denying it: _The kid is trying to kill me._

Vegeta's ki flared as he summoned more strength. He pushed back against the wave, but still it wasn't enough; the energy was too strong. He pushed harder, his ki flaring higher. Still not enough. He felt his body sliding back, inch-by-inch, the kitchen tile grating under his heels.

Suddenly, the resentment from before came roiling and roaring to the surface. Bulma's voice echoed in his ear: _"Goku obliterated you. Beat you to a pulp."_ Images from Earth blinked like snapshots through his head. _Flash._ Kakarot's fist, punching him in the face. _Flash._ That fat lard of a human, cutting off his tail, the symbol of his heritage. _Flash._ His body, bloodied and broken, lying in the dirt... He had lost. How could it be? He, Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans, had lost to a third-class clown. And now his son - his _half-breed_ son - thought he could challenge him? Thought he could actually beat him? How dare he? _How dare he._

The fury boiled over, and Vegeta exploded with a furious cry. The cave rumbled as a ki wave - twice the size of Gohan's and double the strength - fired from his body like a cannon. It swallowed the boy's beam with ease, whirring its way outside. But the boy must have gotten out of the way just in time, because Vegeta could sense his ki, still in the cave.

The rumbling died down, and the zizz of his ki wave grew distant. For a second, Vegeta remained where he was. His chest heaved. Not from exhaustion - but from rage. Pure and visceral rage. Up ahead, he could make out Gohan's outline through the cloud of dust. Eyes locked on target, his body revved, and a feral growl clawed its way up his throat.

If the boy wanted a fight, he'd get a fight. But this time, it would be his last.

* * *

A/N: And then Vegeta killed everyone.

The end.

Nah, just joking. That would be horrible xD

In all seriousness, though, I'm quite nervous about this chapter. Hopefully it turned out ok :\ There were several times during the series that I wanted to slap Vegeta silly - either because he was making a stupid and selfish decision, or acting rashly, or just being a dick. And I kind of had him do all three in this chapter.

Also, if you're a little confused, like Vegeta, then hopefully the next chap will clear things up (will be in Bulma's POV). Anywho, that's it for now I guess. Sorry again for the wait. As a heads up (I also mentioned this on my profile page), now that it's summer, things will be busier for me. I have lots of trips planned, a wedding in August, family visiting, a baby that now crawls everywhere, so yeah..

Love you all. Thanks for reading. Hope to hear from you!


	11. Chapter X

A/N: Hello everyone! Thank thank you to those reading and favoriting and reviewing! Huge and special thanks to these fine peeps for leaving me such wonderful reviews for chap 9 :) _A. Jaye_ (Hi - thank you so much for your kind words! My goal is definitely to keep them as in character as possible. Also, I'm honored to see you favorited the story. Thank you thank you!) _, Guest_ (the tension continues! muahaha), _Beaglinda_ (thank you so much for your review and your support. I really really appreciate it!), _hisuichanxx_ (Hah, that's Vegeta exactly. It's frustrating but also so cute ^^ thanks so much for your wonderful review :3 )

Seriously, when I see your reviews it makes me so happy and gives me a well-needed motivation boost!

Anyway, nothing else to say really. So, onwards!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DBZ or any of the characters.

* * *

CHAPTER X

* * *

Her mind was reeling. Everything was going too wrong, too fast. She could hardly keep up anymore - could hardly think.

And of course, it didn't help that a certain fuming Saiyan Prince was right in her face.

He didn't look too dissimilar from the many other times she'd seen him angry. Lips curled back over bared teeth, dark eyes sharp and deadly. A nerve pulsed in his temple, which she knew meant he was furious. There was one difference this time, though. This time, there was pain in his eyes. Vegeta actually looked _hurt._

It shouldn't have bothered her obviously - for a whole host of reasons she didn't have any time to think about right now. But it did. It bothered her a lot. It made her insides twist and turn, knowing that look of hurt and betrayal was directed at _her._

Her friends' shouts filled the cave, but her brain tuned them out. In that moment, it was like no one and nothing else existed except for her and Vegeta.

"Have you known it this whole time?" he asked, voice hushed and rasped. There was something almost pleading in his tone. Something that made her chest ache.

"W-What? No, Vegeta." For a split second, his expression softened. "Look, I can explain..."

And just like that, the rage came flooding back, igniting his eyes like fire. A wave of fear rushed through her. "You can 'explain?'" he hissed. Bulma squeaked as the grip on her vest tightened. Vegeta leaned in, just a little closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Explain what?"

Her throat clenched.

Yes - explain what? That she had forgotten about her little lie in the beginning? That she hadn't even thought of the possibility of Krillin and Gohan returning without the information they needed? What was the best way to explain this clusterfuck?

Bulma thought back to the very beginning, when she'd first told Vegeta he needed a password to use the dragon balls. At the time, she'd been thinking on her feet, telling the Saiyan whatever sounded believable to prevent him from killing her right then and there.

But then, the lie had turned out to be true; there _was_ a password for the dragon balls. It did make sense. Why would the Namekian dragon balls work the same way as the ones on Earth? After that, Bulma hadn't given it much if any thought because, frankly, she hadn't thought she needed to. Sure, she knew Krillin and Gohan had gone to see Guru for other reasons. But, according to Dende, Guru was the one who'd created the stupid dragon balls. Which meant he had to know the password. And if he knew the damn password, didn't it only make sense that he would mention it to them when they were there?

You'd think so. Yet here were her friends, returned from their days-long journey - and they knew nothing of it. It was a total disaster. No password meant no wish. And no wish made for a very powerful, very angry Vegeta.

Speaking of angry, Vegeta did not seem pleased about her silence. He yanked her a little closer, his action garnering renewed alarm from her friends.

Gohan growled menacingly. "You stop it! Stop it right now!"

"Let her go, Vegeta!" Krillin yelled, then - thinking he was helping - added, "We're not lying! We didn't even know there was a password!"

Bulma gulped at the dreaded words. Vegeta was floored. "What?!" Eyes bulging, he whipped his head to Krillin, then quickly back to her. "They didn't know?"

She tried to hide the tremor from her voice, but failed miserably. "That's what I'm trying to explain -"

"You said they were getting the password."

"I-I figured they were..."

Perhaps hearing the truth in her voice, his expression shifted again - albeit subtly. He suddenly looked a little less like someone ready to murder her, and more like someone willing to hear what she had to say. Bulma sighed inwardly, feeling more hopeful than she had a second ago. Alright. This was her chance. Her chance to defuse him. _Okay, girl. Now just explain it. Just explain it, and everything will be okay._

"This is all just a big misunderstanding, okay?" she said. "W-When you first kidnapped me, and I told you they were getting the password, I…"

As she spoke, Bulma saw a flash of movement in her periphery. The next three seconds were a blur. There was a furious shout, and suddenly Gohan was there, leaping through the air, his foot striking Vegeta's head with a _whop._ Stunned, she wobbled back as her captor's body sailed away into the darkness. Not a second later, when she heard the unmistakable noise of a collision, she jumped and shrieked, _"My capsule house!"_

Then her mind did a double take - and she gasped.

 _Vegeta… !_

Appalled, she snapped to Gohan. He had already moved away from her and was dashing off, deeper into the cave. "Are you insane?!" she howled after him. "You... you just attacked _Vegeta!_ _"_

As her own words echoed around her, Bulma went still, her blood going cold.

Hold up.

 _He... just_ attacked... _Vegeta…_

She had to repeat it in her head a few more times before the gravity finally sank in.

The blood drained slowly from her face.

And panic set in.

She could hardly breathe. She pulled at her hair, eyes wild with fear. _This_... _This can't be happening! That didn't just happen!_ She had been so close to explaining everything! Everything would have been okay! And now... ?! Her heart pounded at the thought. No, no, no! This couldn't happen. She couldn't let it devolve into chaos like this! It would ruin everything! It would get them all killed!

A sudden rustling caught her attention. It was Gohan. Puzzled, Bulma leaned forward slightly, squinting in a vain attempt to see him through the darkness. _What is he -_

"MASENKO -"

In the time it took her to blink, the once pitch black cave had become alive with light and dancing shadows. Her horrified eyes locked on the yellow globe of ki now in Gohan's hands. It grew with a crescendoing buzz, its energy shifting and flexing the air around her. Bulma's mouth fell agape.

He... He wasn't... ! Was he... ?

He totally was.

 _No, no, no, no, no._

She couldn't let him. She couldn't let this get any worse than it already was!

Arm outstretched, Bulma stumbled forward to stop him. She was too slow. Suddenly Krillin was at her side, grabbing her arm, wrenching her away.

 _"C'mon, Bulma!_ _We gotta go!"_

"What!?" She shook her head as he pulled her, her eyes still on Gohan. "Wait! WAIT! _"_

He ignored her, tossing her over his shoulder as he bolted for the exit. Her wounds were searing; she felt a slicing stab with every stride, but she didn't care. All her focus was on the light from Gohan's impending attack, growing brighter and brighter. Bulma reached her arms out desperately, screeching, _"Wait, no! You can't! Stop!_ _STOOOOOPPPPPP!_ "

The beam fired, the _zizz_ swallowing the rest of her scream. They were outside now. Krillin was still running, and Bulma still shrieking. The sound of her wailing yo-yoed in time with his feet as they pounded the ground. He veered them off somewhere to the side, a good fifty yards or so from the cave's entrance, before finally lurching to a stop and setting her down.

She was absolutely hysterical. Without even taking a breath, she yelled, "ARE YOU GUYS OUT OF YOUR MINDS!"

Krillin looked perplexed by her anger. "Wha - ?"

"RRUGH!" She threw her arms up. "YOU... "

The sound caught in her throat as a scorching pain rattled through her. All the jostling, the sudden movements, the strain, the yelling - it had been too much. She let out a whimper and slumped to the ground, keeling over to wrap her arms around her stomach.

"B-Bulma!" He rushed to her side. "Bulma, what's wrong?!" After a second, when she didn't answer, he quickly came to his own conclusion. "He... He did hurt you, didn't he!" he charged. "That bastard! What did he do to you?"

Krillin knelt down to place a well-intentioned hand on her back. Bulma swatted him away furiously. "Ugh, it wasn't him! He didn't _'do'_ anything to me! You DWEEBS!" She didn't have time to explain this right now! There was no time to... Suddenly the panic gripped her again. Pain and anger forgotten, she bolted upright, her fingers knotting in her hair. "No, no, no, no!" She clawed at Krillin's arm. "T-This isn't supposed to be happening, this isn't supposed to be happening! We have to stop them! K-Krillin, we have to stop them! You have to -"

A terrifyingly loud sound interrupted her. Bulma started and braced herself as the ground rumbled beneath her, her attention snapping to the cave. A monstrous blue energy wave spewed out with a startling roar, erupting from the cave's maw like a dragon breathing fire.

Her heart leaped to her throat.

"OH MY GOSH. GOHAN! V-VEGETA!"

The wave was blinding, but she couldn't look away. Its light illuminated her face as she looked on in horror. Her mind raced. _Someone's_ _dead, someone's dead,_ she thought with certainty, convinced there was no way they both could have managed to survive a blast like that. _But who?_ Gohan or Vegeta?

The thought of either made her stomach twist.

The ki wave had dwindled no more than thirty seconds after it began. The rumbling faded with it, and all grew eerily quiet once more. For a long moment, she and Krillin were too shell-shocked to move. They remained frozen, holding their breath, their unblinking eyes glued on the entrance of the cave.

After a moment, Krillin came back to. "Gohan…" he said, as he made to move forward. The whir of another ki blast stopped him in his tracks. Sure enough, out shot another beam. Bulma gasped. It whistled through the air, much smaller than the one before it - but just as lethal. As it streaked past, she caught a fleeting glimpse of Gohan. His small body was tacked on the front end like a little ragdoll. _"Gohan!"_ Krillin shouted. The blast launched away, smashing the boy into a nearby outcrop with a reverberating _crack._

Her heart skipped a beat - out of fear or relief (she wasn't sure which) - as she turned her gaze to the cave. Vegeta was stepping out into the sun, virtually unscathed. _What are these guys made of?_ she thought pointlessly. As he emerged, she gave him a once-over, as best she could from her distance. His demeanor was deceptively sedate - his strides stoic, almost casual. But she wasn't fooled. He was angrier than before - she could feel it. Behind the stone-faced façade was an unseen and frightening energy. It seemed to radiate off of him in palpable waves, making her skin crawl.

Bulma shook herself. She leaned forward, her face straining as she screamed, "Vegeta! Vegeta, stop!"

But the Saiyan made no signs that he'd heard her. He just continued forward, eyes focused dead ahead - a predator locked on its prey. She was opening her mouth to try again when she heard the shout of some wordless battle cry. In the blink of an eye, Gohan was there, lunging forward, his fist swinging at Vegeta's face. Vegeta jerked back, just out of reach. Gohan pressed forward and swung another. Again, Vegeta parried with ease. Bulma was on all fours now, screeching, _"What are you doing?! Gohan, stop! Both of you, stop it!"_ but no one was listening. Gohan continued his flurry of attacks, while Vegeta checked the blows. A punch, a kick, a punch, a kick. Before long, the movements became too fast for her to follow, and the two fighters were nothing but a blur. Her throat was so raw it felt like it might bleed. _"Why does no one ever listen to me! You're ruining everything! Stop it! Please! Stop fighting!"_

"Bulma, run."

The command blindsided her. She looked up at Krillin and blinked.

"You need to get out of here!" he told her sternly. "You're not safe. Go, _run!_ _"_

"Run... ?" she echoed.

She took a second and mulled the order over in her mind. Yes, of course. _Run._ It made perfect sense. Why wouldn't she run? Who was she kidding? Her plan for them to make peace was over - a lost cause. The situation had officially spiraled out of her control. With no password to make his wish, and physical provocation to boot, Vegeta was no doubt implacable at this point. On top of that, it looked like Gohan was outmatched. It was too dangerous to stay. Vegeta would very possibly kill her friends and, if she stayed, might kill her, too.

 _He might kill me, too..._

Just then, all at once, the events of the past hour hit her. Her heart plummeted.

She couldn't believe it. Had Vegeta really been ready to kill her? How could he? Tears stung her eyes as she flashed on that moment in the kitchen - his tenderness, his concern for her. Even though it had just happened, it seemed so distant now, so surreal. Had it been a dream, after all? _'_ _Am I hurting you?'_ Why the hell even bother asking her that, if he didn't actually care? In a matter of minutes, he'd gone from being gentle and caring, to being completely detached towards her, utterly _empty._ It just didn't make any sense. It was almost as though he had shut off or something. Like some switch had been flipped inside him. It was entirely and thoroughly disturbing.

Then again, was she really so surprised? This was _Vegeta._ Had she forgotten? Had she forgotten who he was?

"Bulma."

But... But then there was that moment when he'd turned around and looked her right in the face. For a split second, she could have sworn she'd seen a glimpse of the man from before. A flicker of something in his eyes. _'Listen to me,_ ' he'd said - before he'd been interrupted. 'Listen to me' what? What was he going to tell her? Maybe... maybe he was going to tell her that his plan wasn't to kill her? That it was all just a bluff - an act?

"Bulma!"

… And if it wasn't a bluff... ?

Bulma's fingers dug into the dirt, her body shaking with teeming emotion. If it wasn't a bluff, then... then fuck him! After everything? After the time they'd spent together? After the kindness she'd shown him? After she'd trusted him? After she'd _stayed_ for him? For goodness' sake, they almost _kissed!_

"BULMA!"

She started. Krillin was staring at her, clearly confused by her frozen state.

"What are you waiting for! _Go! Now!_ "

She looked down at her hands, at the dirt collecting under her nails. _Yes, Bulma, what_ are _you waiting for?_

She may have made the mistake of staying for Vegeta once, but she didn't have to make the same mistake again. She could leave - she _needed_ to leave. Now was the time.

Bulma willed her legs to move, but they wouldn't budge. She tried once more. Again, her body resisted. She lifted her gaze to the skirmish in front of her. Though the fighters' movements were still a blur, every few seconds there was slight lag in their speed, and she would catch of glimpse of him - his spiked hair, his scowling face. She remembered that face when it wasn't so angry and cruel. She remembered the feeling of his forehead against hers, the look of almost _warmth_ in his eyes. She remembered how he'd cared for her injuries, his calloused hands treating her so gently.

For whatever reason, she decided right then that she couldn't do it. She couldn't leave. Not like this. Not with so many loose ends, so many unanswered questions. If Vegeta had been serious about killing her, she needed to know why. She needed to know how he could do it. She needed to understand.

A guttural cry jarred her back to the present. Vegeta had grabbed Gohan by the hair, and was punching him repeatedly in the face. "What's the matter, boy?" she heard him say, his tone biting. "Your power boost not giving you the leg up you thought it would?" Blood flew as he punched him again, right in the nose.

Next to her, Krillin snarled, "That's it. I can't watch this anymore." She watched him dart ahead and drop into a fighter's stance. His hands began to maneuver into an attack she knew all too well.

Her stomach flopped. "Krillin! NO!"

His head snapped to the side. "Bulma! Just GO!" He turned his attention back to Vegeta and widened his stance. "KA..."

Vegeta froze and snapped his gaze to Krillin.

"ME..."

"Krillin! DON'T!"

"HA..."

The familiar blue light had already ignited in his hands, and was growing brighter by the second. Vegeta released Gohan and charged.

"ME..."

 _Oh my gosh, oh my gosh._ She couldn't watch this! Overwhelmed, Bulma screwed her eyes shut as she braced for the final "ha."

But it never came.

Instead all she heard a gurgle. When she opened her eyes she saw Vegeta, standing meters away, his hand wrapped around Krillin's throat. His lips curled into a wicked smile, "Too slow."

Krillin sputtered. "V-Ve…" He struggled like a fish on a hook - his feet pedaling wildly, fingers clawing at the hand around his windpipe. It was futile, of course. Bulma knew from firsthand experience how strong that hand was. And how useless it was to fight it.

The Saiyan only chuckled at Krillin's efforts. His other fist reared back for a punch that Bulma feared might break the fighter's face - maybe even his skull. Doing the only thing she could think of to do in that moment, she pulled as much air as into her lungs as she could and shrieked, "FOR THE LAST TIME - VEGETA, STOP! KRILLIN, STOP! ALL OF YOU, STOP IT RIGHT NOOOOWWW!"

And then, like some strange dream, everyone actually froze. Vegeta seized, his fist mid-punch. Krillin's limbs stopped flailing. Even Gohan - who she just now realized had been charging Vegeta from behind - had stopped dead.

Bulma blinked, for a second wondering if her command had actually worked. But as the moment dragged on, and the silence continued, she began to realize it was something else that had caught their attention.

The bloodthirsty look vanished from Vegeta's face. He released his grip on Krillin and turned his attention to the sky. The other fighter landed on his feet, though unsteadily, coughing as he fought for air.

 _Now what?_ Bulma wondered.

This was... too weird. While she was thankful they weren't trying to kill each other anymore, the abrupt change of tone made her extremely uneasy. It was as though they'd suddenly forgotten why they were even mad at each other - their fury and bloodlust gone, vanished, poof. She didn't like it one bit.

Adrenaline still racing, her voice came out charged and shrill. "W-What's going on?! What's happening?"

No one answered her.

Gohan walked over slowly, his face bruised and bloody, his body scuffed. His gaze, like Vegeta's, was glued skywards. "Do you guys sense that?"

"Sense what?!" she yelped. Then a thought occurred to her and she blanched. "I-It's not Frieza, is it?"

The color was finally starting to return to Krillin's face. "No," he said, his voice hoarse. He craned his head to the sky. "But it's a huge power level."

"Do you think it's my dad?" asked Gohan.

While Bulma perked at the thought, Vegeta visibly tensed. Krillin shook his head. "I don't think so, Gohan. It... It doesn't _feel_ like Goku. It kinda feels like there's more than one, too."

She heard a noise, and turned her head to Vegeta. The Saiyan looked like he'd just seen a ghost. "It's... It's the Ginyu Force," he croaked, eyes wide. "Frieza's called in the Ginyu Force."

 _... Who?_

Krillin was just as lost. "The Gin- what now?"

The Saiyan clenched his fists and grunted savagely, frustrated that none of them knew what he was talking about. Gohan stood behind him, wiping a dribble of blood from his chin. Vegeta whirled around, grabbed him by his uniform, and hoisted him up. "Alright!" he barked. "No more time for lies or games! If you have the password, I need it! _Now!_ Tell me what it is, and I swear I will not harm any of you. You have my word!"

"Like your 'word' means anything, Vegeta," Krillin shot back sourly. "And besides, we told you already. We don't have the password! Now you let him go!"

Vegeta digested his words with clear distress. Then, to Bulma's surprise, he actually acquiesced, throwing the boy roughly to the ground. He spun to Krillin. "What about this 'Guru?' The one you went to see. Would he know it?"

Krillin answered warily. "Yeah, probably."

"Guru is the one who created the dragon balls, so if there's a password, he has to know it." Gohan stood up, patting the dirt off his backside. "I wonder why he wouldn't have mentioned anything when we were there, though. How strange."

 _Right?!_

Vegeta growled, "Well then, what are you waiting for! Take me to him!"

"Hmph." Krillin frowned. "As if we would do that. Whaddyou think we are - stupid?"

The Saiyan snarled again and advanced on the fighter. " _Listen to me_ ," he urged. "You sense those power levels, don't you? They're a special team of warriors - Frieza's private army. Five of them. Do you feel how fast they're approaching? We don't have any more time to squabble about this! Any moment now they'll arrive with their new scouters. We won't be able to hide! They'll find us and kill us all! We need to make me immortal before they get here, or we don't stand a chance!"

Bulma squeaked. _What?!_ More _aliens?_ Her blues eyes assessed Vegeta carefully. She had never seen him so serious, so... shaken. It terrified her. She knew he wasn't lying.

Krillin knew it, too. He was trembling now, a thin layer of sweat glistening atop his already shiny head. He lowered his gaze as he weighed the Saiyan's words, a look of torment on his face. "We'll... we'll wait for Goku then," he said after a long moment. "We'll use the wish on him."

The Saiyan ground his teeth. "We don't have _time_ to wait for that buffoon! They're on their way here _now._ "

"Then... Then Gohan."

"Tch, don't be stupid!" Vegeta shot a glance in Gohan's direction. "The kid is powerful but he doesn't have nearly enough experience. We _have_ to use the wish on me."

Bulma's eyes flickered back and forth between Vegeta and Krillin as they argued. Her heart had finally slowed down enough to think coherently again, and her brain was assessing the options. None of them were good. But unfortunately, they had to choose one. She closed her eyes, thinking hard.

 _What do you want?_ she asked herself.

What did she want...? She wanted to go home. She wanted her boyfriend back. She wanted to not be surrounded by unfathomably powerful and evil aliens, and other scary creatures. She wanted that moment back, when Vegeta had been kind of sweet, and not a homicidal maniac. And she wanted - no, _needed_ \- to know if he had really meant to kill her, if she'd really meant that little to him.

Her rational mind scolded her. _No, no!_ _Focus! We're talking about_ right now. _What do you want - more than anything - right now?_

Bulma thought for a moment, then set her jaw.

 _I want to live, dammit._

Another long moment of silence had passed, with Krillin continuing to waver, and Vegeta looking like he would snap any second. Bulma had had enough. Empowered, she rose to her feet, hands on her hips, and marched up behind her bald, deliberating friend.

"EARTH TO KRILLIN," she snapped, her voice incredibly raspy from all her screaming. Krillin turned to her, dumbfounded. "Are you listening, or do you need some Q-tips to clean the wax out of your ears? What is so hard about this?" She gestured to the sky. "Whoever these guys are, they're on their way here right now, and if we don't do what Vegeta says, we'll die. Do you want to die?! Huh?! Because _I don't!"_

"But... " Krillin shook his head, visibly torn. "This... this is crazy!"

"Look, I'm with you, okay?" She pointed to Vegeta. "The implications of a guy like him becoming immortal are terrifying. But so are the implications of not sucking it up and doing what he says. Can we take on one problem at a time and focus on staying _alive,_ please?! Let's take him to Guru, get him this stupid password, and let him make his fucking wish!" She shot Vegeta an icy glare before adding, "... even if he is a no good _jerk_."

Vegeta's jaw clenched as he met her gaze, his black eyes glinting with some unreadable emotion.

Their staring contest ended, however, when Krillin spoke again. "Fine," he muttered finally, almost painfully. "Gohan?"

Face serious, Gohan gave a reluctant nod.

"Alright then." Krillin eyed Vegeta closely. "But you better not try anything funny, or the deal's off - got it?" The Prince shook his head like an earnest little boy. Krillin turned his attention back to her. "It'll be safer for you if you stay here, though, Bulma."

"WHAT." Her eyes flared. Krillin flinched back. "You can't be serious! You are NOT leaving me here alone again, you hear me!?" When he opened his mouth to object, she grabbed ahold of his ear and yanked. "YOU HEAR ME?" As she yanked, her eyes inadvertently glanced to Vegeta. The Saiyan looked awestruck by the interaction.

"Ow, ow! I hear you!" Krillin pulled himself from her grip and swatted her away. "You can come with! Sheesh." Rubbing his ear, he steered back to the issue at hand. "But I mean it, Bulma," he reiterated. "It'll be dangerous. If things take a turn for the worst, you gotta get out of there right away."

"Hmph." She leaned back and crossed her arms, still incensed. "I'm not stupid! Of course I will. This big girl can take care of herself, thank you very much!" She patted her pocket. "I've got my air-bike in case shit hits the fan."

Vegeta's impatient noise interrupted them. "All you Earthlings do is babble!" he spat. "We're wasting _time!_ C'mon, c'mon!"

Krillin nodded, but then froze again. "Wait. Where are the dragon balls, anyway?"

 _"What?!"_ Bulma gawked at him, incredulous. "You didn't even know Vegeta had the dragon balls?!" Seeing Krillin's confusion, she gestured to the Saiyan, clarifying, "He has them in a capsule, ready to go. _Unbelievable!_ You didn't think to even ask where the dragon balls were before you went and blew my house up? What if they had been in there, huh!?" She suppressed the urge to yank his ear again. As though sensing it, Krillin recoiled. "You're lucky I grabbed my capsules, too! Idiots! What were you thinking! There were valuable things in that house, you know!" A sudden thought sidetracked her, and her blue eyes grew wide. "Come to think of it," she thought aloud, "my pearl necklaces! Oh my gosh, I swear, if those are gone..."

It was Vegeta's turn to be incredulous. He gaped at her, snarling, "What world do you live in!"

But Bulma had already started for the cave. The Saiyan growled and intercepted her, spinning and pulling her roughly to his chest. There was a jolt of pain as their bodies made contact, making her wince, but if he noticed, he didn't seem to care. She started to protest, but he cut her off. "We don't have time for any more stupidity!" He looked to the others, gesturing his head to the sky. "We need to go, _now._ Fly as fast as you can!"

The others hesitated, though - a look of avid protest in their eyes. They were skeptical about letting Vegeta handle her. Honestly, she wasn't sure how she felt about it, either. Right now, she was feeling more emotions than she even knew what to do with. Part of her wanted to thrash in his arms, yell at him, hit him - and the other part? Well, she wasn't entirely sure what the other part of her wanted to do...

One thing she was certain of, though, was that she didn't feel like listening to everyone argue about it.

Her eyes and tone were hard. "I'm fine, alright?" she told them. "Just go."

They looked at each other uncertainly. Then they nodded, and took off into the sky.

And then she was alone with Vegeta.

The emotions were simmering now - a befuddling concoction of anger, confusion, relief, sadness, fear. Their current proximity to one another didn't help. There was an energy between their bodies that she was painfully aware of now, inescapable as a shadow. Despite herself, her heart began to pound.

"Ve…" she started -

\- but suddenly the arms around her tightened and they were surging into the sky.

* * *

A/N: So, perhaps not as exciting as other chaps where B/V interaction is concerned, but they will find their way back to each other, I promise. Also, I am discovering what a bitch action/fight scenes are to write. Like holy cow. I don't know, some of you might find it easy, but I really struggle. Which is unfortunate because, well, it's DBZ, and there's lots of fighting xD

Also, after working it out, I'd say there will be another 7 or 8 chaps to this story until the end! Yay.

Anyway, as always, thank you for reading. I would love love love to hear from you, so please consider leaving a review!

Hugs, bye!


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